Inseparable
by waitwhathuh
Summary: When Cat crosses the line, Tori thinks it might be time to put some space between her and the red-head. What Tori doesn't know is that this task might be harder than she anticipated. Maybe it's impossible to stay away from Cat after all... Cori.
1. Some Space

**Author's Note: Ayyy! How's it going? Here's another thing... written by me. It's just a fun little idea I had, for, you know... funsies. Don't take it too seriously. Unless you want to. It's different from other stuff I've done because guess what? IT'S LIGHT-HEARTED! Shocking, I know. I can barely believe it myself. Also, I'm taking this opportunity to practise _not_ having ungodly lengthy chapters. 10, 000 words a week is too much work, man. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this thing. That I wrote. For you. Bye!**

**Disclaimer: There was this show called Victorious which I wrote a Fanfiction for. This is Fanfiction. Why the heck would I be writing Fanfiction if I owned the thing I'm writing Fanfiction for? Silly copyright laws. **

* * *

"So Tori… I really liked your performance at the Full Moon Jam this week. It was killer." The guy gives a smile across the table at me, and I can't help but blush. He has a cute smile. His name is Jeff and he asked me out just before I went out on stage at the Full Moon Jam. Of course I said yes. He's one of the best break dancers at Hollywood Arts. If there's a guy spinning on his head on the steps near the entrance, it's probably him. Something about being so strong and double-jointed is… attractive.

"Thanks. Maybe next time you can dance on stage with me. I bet we'd make a good team." I grin, twirling a strand of hair in my fingers and trying to look attractive. Is my smile crooked? Are my eyes too squinted? Is my head too tilted? I wish I had a mirror or something to check my… everything.

"I'd like to find out." He winks. Ooh, he's as smooth with talking as he is on the dance floor.

"I thought you've done back up for Shakira. Aren't Hollywood Arts shows a little bit small time for you?" I ask.

"Maybe, but for you I'd make an exception." He smirks. "You're anything but small time."

Oh my.

I don't know what to say, so I just giggle and looking down at my sushi. This is going well. He's cute, talented, nice… definitely not a Ryder. Then again, Ryder seemed cute, talented and nice at first, too…

"So… since I'm not small time, you're not planning on using me for a good grade are you?" I ask with a small smile so he knows I'm not being completely serious. Everyone saw me call out Ryder at that concert, so he knows what I'm talking about. He holds up his hands in defense.

"Hey, they last thing I want is for you to write a song about what a jerk I am. That'd be hard to dance to." He chuckles.

"Just had to check." I assure him.

"Hey, I get it. If you ask me, that guy was a fool. You clearly have way more to offer than a good grade." He winks again. Winking can either be creepy or make me swoon. I'm swooning.

"You sure know how to talk to the ladies, don't you?" I laugh, feeling some butterflies and a faint blush.

"Am I doing well? I usually get tongue tied around the really pr-pribby-PRETTY ones." He forces out with a shy smile. Okay, do they also teach how to be extra cute in those dance classes? How was this guy possibly single?

"You're doing great, trust me." I chuckle, and he beams.

"Great. Want another order of sushi?" He asks, and I nod. He signals one of the Nozu workers over. "Could I get an order of dragon rolls, and my lovely date here would like…"

"Um, avocado cucumber roll." I answer.

"Right away." The waiter says, walking off.

"Oh chiz, I was going to order a green tea, too." I sigh.

"Got distracted?" He asks, raising his eyebrow. I flash him a smile.

"Maybe a little." I admit, looking pointedly at him.

"Well I'll be sure you get a green tea before you leave. It'll be my mission in life." Jeff declares.

"My hero." I chuckle. Suddenly we hear a commotion somewhere in Nozu's off to the side.

"Uh, excuse me Miss! You can't just take those! They're someone else's order… ah, whatever." I hear our waiter groan. That's when a familiar girl with red-velvet hair appears by our table with a tray and our sushi orders. She has her usual large smile on her face.

"Cat?" I blink at her.

"Dragon rolls and avocado cucumber rolls! I figured this was your order, Tori… The avocado cucumber rolls are your favourite." Cat grins.

"Uh, yeah… but why do you have our order?" I ask, eyeing her cautiously. "You don't work here."

"I know. I was here with Robbie, over there." Cat points at him and he waves across the restaurant. I feel a pang of… something. I've always been a little uncomfortable of where their relationship seemed to be heading. Not because I want _Robbie_ of all people, but I just don't think they're good for each other. That's all. "They seemed to be short-handed so I offered to help out."

"But Cat, it seemed like you literally **stole-**"

"Here you go!" Cat places the trays down in front of us before I can finish my point. She turns to Jeff.

"Hi! I'm Cat!" She smiles.

"I know who you are. You're… that strange girl." Jeff notes. Hey. She's unique, not strange. I mean sure, her personality was not easy to get used to, but you have to appreciate someone who can always have such an innocent outlook.

"Yeah, that's me!" Cat beams. See? Got to admire it. "Are you guys on a date?"

I let out a sigh. Here we go. "Cat, what do you think?" I question. She blinks, staring at us. Then after a moment, she answers slowly.

"…Yes…?"

"That's right." I nod. "Are you on a date?" I ask, secretly hoping to hear a no. Cat looks back at Robbie, and then back at us.

"What do you think?" Cat asks, and I falter a minute. Huh, touché. I guess it's not really that obvious after all.

"Maybe?" I inquire. Cat looks back at Robbie, a slight frown on her face. It's weird to see Cat frown.

"I think he wants to think it's a date." Cat mumbles. I let out an inward sigh of relief. So they're not on a date. That's good. Not so much for Robbie, but… I know he really wants her to think of him as a boyfriend, but even though he would probably get a lot out of dating her, I'm not sure what he has to offer her other than a rude puppet. As much as I love Robbie as a friend, I'm glad she's still resisting his advances. I was a little worried for a while that she was falling for him, too. But hey, if she did, who am I to mess with true love? Even if she is my best friend…

"Oh." Is all I say. She turns back with that smile back on her face.

"Are you enjoying your date?" Cat asks. That's right! _I'm_ on a date. A very nice one that I'd like to get back to!

"I think so." I smile at Jeff, who smiles back. Cat looks between us.

"Don't you think Tori is pretty?" Cat asks Jeff suddenly. If I had ordered my green tea and was drinking it, I probably would have spat it out.

"Uh, yeah. I do." Jeff says awkwardly.

"Me too. She's very pretty." Cat agrees. Then she slides into the booth next to me. Oh no. Not again.

"Cat." I mutter through gritted teeth.

"Did you know Tori doesn't have her license yet?" Cat inquires. I let out a big sigh.

"Well, yeah. But I drove us here so it doesn't matter." Jeff shrugs.

"I'm going to the DMV in two days, _Cat_." I huff.

"Really, Tori? That's great! I'm sure you'll pass." Cat grins, and then turns back to Jeff. "So you know about her car. What else?"

"Um… she has a great voice…" Jeff trails off.

"That's all?" Cat interrogates.

"Caaat…" I glare.

"Well that's the point of the date. To get to know each other." Jeff states.

"Oh! Right. I'll help! I want to make sure Tori has the best boyfriend ever." Cat insists.

"B…boyfriend?" Jeff stumbles. "I don't think we're there yet."

Cat tilts her head innocently. "That's why I'm going to tell you about her!"

"Cat, please. We were doing fine on our own." I mumble. Sometimes she's too innocent for her own good.

"But what if some things don't come up? Like… did you know Tori is really good at Hamboning?" Cat informs.

"That's a… nice skill." Jeff blinks.

"That's enough, Cat." I start lightly shoving her out the booth, but she stays solid in place and ignores me.

"And one time, I made her into a hamburger…" Cat recalls.

"Does everything with Tori have to do with a word with ham in it?" Jeff ask.

"No, no." I start waving my arms.

"Oh of course not. Tori also has big underwear! That has nothing to do with ham!" Cat exclaims. I nearly smack my head right into my soy sauce dish. I can't believe she's doing this. And maybe she can't either, because I watch her face drop into shock and she suddenly looks uncomfortable. Maybe she's realized how embarrassing she's being. "But… you probably shouldn't have found that out… at least not for a _really_ long time!"

"Ughhh Cat!" I snap. "Jeff, I am so sorry."

"It's… okay." Jeff says, shrinking down a bit. "Listen, I just remembered that um… I had to help my mom with something. I should go. I had a nice time. Uh… call you later?" Jeff stands up, and like a blur he rushes out.

"Wait, Jeff…!" I call out, but he's long gone. I run my hands through my hair and let out a frustrated groan.

"He seems nice." Cat states happily, unaware of what she just caused. "You have to respect a guy who puts his mom first."

"Cat, he wasn't going to help his mom. He just wanted to leave." I grumble.

"Why would someone want to leave a date with you?" Cat asks. I feel my frustration rising as I push past her out of the booth.

"What do you think?!" I snap. But when I look at her and I see her conflicted face, I remember it might not be as obvious to her as it is to me. "Cat, this the third time in the last two months where you've interrupted one of my dates and scared the guy away."

"I just want to make sure you have a good date." Cat frowns, which still looks weird on her. Even though I'm mad at her, part of me wants to see her smile.

"But you keep doing the opposite. I don't need your help, Cat. I can do fine on my own." I huff. Cat stands up, her look a little more serious than I'm used to.

"But you've had bad luck with guys on your own!" She argues.

"Well it's up to me to learn from my bad choice of guys, and I thought I was doing pretty well! Jeff was one of the nicest dates I've had in a while." I state.

"Well he didn't seem much nicer than the others if he split the moment your 'strange' friend made things a little awkward." Cat huffs. I pause a moment. "If he _really_ liked you, wouldn't you think he'd stick around a little longer?"

She has a point, and I hate it. I want to be mad at her for ruining everything, and not letting me figure out things on my own. I don't want to think about her saving me.

"I guess I'll never know now, thanks to you." I mutter. Her face falls, and her frown deepens. I think this is the deepest frown I've ever seen on her face.

"Tori… look…" Cat mumbles.

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Robbie interrupts us, looking concerned.

"Nothing, Robbie. I was just leaving. I have to help my mom with something." I spit, turning away from Cat.

"Tori, wait! Please don't be mad at me. I was just trying to help." Cat sniffs. I stop and let out a sigh, but I don't turn to her.

"Well, don't. Don't help anymore. Just give me some space." I state, stalking off. I think that's what I need. Space. I love Cat, she's the sweetest thing ever. But it's like most sweet things… if you have too much, you'll get a tummy ache. I'm a little too overloaded on Cat right now.

She sends me some text messages that night about how sorry she is, but I don't reply. I'm committing to this Cat detox. I'm worried our friendship will end if I don't.

* * *

The next day we were in our stage crew class in the blackbox. Sikowitz is our teacher, of course. It's our second class of the day, so it's not the first time I saw Cat today. I expected her to maybe bound up to me and hug me as if nothing happened, and I had prepared to remind her I needed some space. But she didn't do that. She didn't even look at me when I came in our first class, like she usually did with a big smile. I missed out on that smile for this class, too. I'm still a little wazzed at her, but I can't help to feel a little empty without her cheerful greetings.

I guess a little withdrawal comes with every detox.

"Okay class!" Sikowitz addresses us. "As you know, one of our mainstages is slated to be put up next. As tradition, this class will take responsibility for the production of a mainstage. This is the one we are scheduled to do! We will be in charge of the set, lighting, sound, and being the stage hands for scene changes. Any questions?" Sikowitz asks. I raise my hand. "Yes, Tori?"

"What about the people who were cast in the play?" I ask. The cast list was put up this morning. I was cast, as was Cat. I hope I feel we've had enough space before we start rehearsing our scenes together.

"Excellent question. Obviously the actors in the play can't act and do crew duties at the same time. If they did, surely the universe would implode." Sikowitz states matter-of-factly. We blink at him. "Students in the play will be assigned to building sets beforehand. You can think of it as a good thing for your acting, too. You get to really build the universe your character lives in!" He exclaims. I nod in agreement. That sounds good to me. "That being said: Tori! Cat! You're both on the set above the stage. Start making wooden clouds, sun, and a moon. I want at least some clouds up on the rafters before the end of class." He announces.

Aw, chiz. It's like the universe doesn't want me to stay away from Cat.

It takes me a moment, but I realize something else about this news bothers me. It's how quiet it was after Sikowitz made the pairing. The rest of the class noticed too, and turned to look at Cat. Usually at the prospect of being paired with anyone, Cat would let out a cheerful 'yay!', but this time she's silent. Curious, I look at her, too. She seems unfazed by the news, a normal dreamy look on her face. She still doesn't look at me.

"Andre, you're on sound. Sinjin, lights. Robbie, Beck and Jade you're stage hands." Sikowitz assigns. Jade's hand shoots into the air.

"Can I be on lights?" Jade asks.

"I thought you'd rather the time on stage. Why would you want to be on lights?" Sikowitz asks.

"Because I want to make sure the spotlight is never on Tori." Jade smirks. I scoff at her. Jade tries to make me miserable on purpose. At least Cat does it by accident. Cat gets points for that.

"No. Now off to your assignments!" Sikowitz orders. Thank god. Jade rolls her eyes and shoves my chair a bit as she walks by. I get up the same time as Cat, and our eyes meet for a moment. I turn away first, heading towards the back of the stage where the wood boards for cutting into clouds are. I hear her sigh. Now's not the time to cave, Tori.

The entire class, we work slowly. We don't communicate the entire time, so often we mess up a cut and have to start over. I can see her glancing at me out of the corner of my eye every so often. So _now_ she looks at me. And it's distracting me from getting my work done even more…

Great, the bell just rang and we only have one cloud cut out.

"Cat, Tori, let's see your progress… oh my." Sikowitz cringes.

"Sorry, Sikowitz. Slow day." I mutter.

"What's the matter with you two? You usually work very well together." Sikowitz comments.

"Not always. Sometimes I don't help very well." Cat mumbles, looking at the ground. I feel a pang of guilt.

"A partnership is both sides helping to complete a task. You both will stay during lunch and get this cloud looking like a cloud and harnessed above the stage. Do we have an understanding?" Sikowitz states.

"What? But Sikowitz…!" I whine.

"This is an important lesson for you two! Show business is on a strict schedule, and sometimes you need to take time from your personal lives to get your job done or everything can fall apart." He leans in close. "And taking a break from whatever _happened_ in your personal life to get the job done. Understand?"

"Yes, Sikowitz." Cat and I say together.

"Excellent. I'm going to go eat a burrito." And Sikowitz prances off. I let out a long breath and look at Cat. She looks at me, and then looks away. I can't tell if she's mad at me or not. She almost seems scared of me… I didn't want that to happen.

"Let's get to work… if we're fast, we can still catch the end of lunch." I state.

"Okay." Cat nods. "We just need to make the cloud all white and then hang it up above the stage, right?"

"Right…" I let out a sigh. "I guess we'll have to use paint, but then we need to wait for the paint to dry before we can attach it to the pulleys. So much for catching the end of lunch." I mumble, heading toward the cans of paint in the corner.

"Um, wait. Tori, I have an idea. If… you'd like to hear it." Cat says in a small voice. I turn to her, and she looks shy. Okay, I know I need a break but I don't want her feeling so uneasy around me.

"Sure, Cat." I nod. She cracks a smile at me in response. That's better.

"I was thinking we could just glue cotton balls on it. It wouldn't take so long to dry, and then the clouds would be white _and_ fluffy." Cat explains. I raise my eyebrows a bit. Cat can be random with her ideas, but sometimes they're on point. "What do you think?"

"I think that's a great idea. But where do we get the cotton balls?" I ask. Her smile widens even more.

"They're up in the storage closet. I remember seeing them when I lived in there. Come bring the cloud." Cat beckons me, a bit more of a bounce in her step.

I follow Cat up and after a minute she comes out of the closet with three large bags of cotton balls.

"That's perfect! Now we just need a way to glue them on." I ponder.

"Got that, too." Cat pulls out a bottle of Grizzly Glue. I hold up my hands, stepping away.

"Whoa, I have bad memories from that." I cringe.

"Relax, I'm not going anywhere near your face with it this time." Cat assures me. "It's just for the cotton balls."

"Okay but… be careful with that." I say cautiously. Cat giggles and takes the wooden cloud from me. Using a paint brush, she spreads a heavy coat of the glue over the cloud and then holds it up in front of me. I give her a questioning look.

"Start throwing cotton balls." Cat orders, and I can't help but smile. I open a bag and the next thing I know, we're laughing as I throw fistfuls of cotton balls at her and the cloud, bunches of them sticking to the sticky surface and others being spat out by Cat as they accidentally hit her in the mouth.

What detox?

Eventually the surface is pretty covered, and we're almost out of cotton balls anyway. Cat places it down by the railing gently.

"Let me just wipe off the ones that didn't stick and get any patches. You can grab the hook and rope, we'll hang it up and get to lunch. Deal?" Cat states.

"Sounds good to me." I smile. She smiles back fondly before turning to the cloud. I watch her as I feel for the rope. Sikowitz was right, we do work well together… when we're talking. And I really enjoyed it. I never really thought about it, but… Cat and I haven't really hung out together for a long time. I missed it, and the energy she brings. I feel really bad for wanting to spend even more time apart from her… I mean, she's nice, always has other's best interests at heart, fun to have around, really pretty…

Like, really pretty. I'm constantly surprised she doesn't have more than Robbie after her… which I'm kind of glad about. Someone as innocent as her might be tricked… I guess I understand her looking out for me on my dates, even if she's overbearing. If anyone ever hurt her, I'd… I'd…

I'm falling.

No, I'm _literally_ falling.

At some point while admiring Cat I leaned against the railing and it gave way. I let out a yelp as I teeter over the edge, my support no longer there.

"Tori!" Cat cries out, rushing from the cloud. In a desperate attempt I twist my body to hopefully grab the ledge, but my chest hits the side of the railing and my breath blows out with a _whoosh_. Winded and shocked, I feel myself slip from the ledge.

My shoulder tugs painfully as a warm, soft hand is clasped in mine. I'm left dangling over the edge with Cat struggling to hold onto me from the catwalk. I have to take a minute to catch my bearings. That all happened so fast and… Cat just saved me.

"Tori? Are you okay?" Cat asks, her voice sounding strained. I look up and she's laying on the catwalk, bent over at her chest to reach me and keep from serious injury. She would have had to act extraordinarily fast in order to catch me like this.

"I… I think so." I breathe out. "You?"

"Y-yeah." Cat stutters. "You're kind of heavy."

"Hey!" I scoff in spite of myself.

"Not like that! I'm just… weak." Cat mumbles, a strangled gasp bursting from between her lips.

"Can you pull me up?" I shout.

"I'll… try." Cat states, and I hear her grunt as I'm tugged up a little, but she doesn't have enough strength to get me over the ledge. I let a yelp as she drops me down again, but she still has a firm grip of my hand. "I'm sorry, Tori!"

"Oh god." I gasp, looking at the ground. Cat's arm is beginning to tremble under my weight. I think maybe if I fell like this, I could hit the ground feet first and be fine… minus maybe a broken ankle. Or my femurs driving up through my hip bones. "Cat… Cat, this is bad. This is so bad." I whimper.

"Tori." She says firmly, and I rip my eyes from the floor to look up at her red face. "I won't let you go. I _promise_. I would never let you fall." Cat assures me. We stare at each other in the eyes, and I can't help but believe her.

What is this, Titanic? If it is… I'm screwed.

We hear the blackbox door open, and my heart fills with hope. Beck walks in, seeming like he's looking for something.

"Beck!" Both Cat and I yell. Beck pauses for a moment, glances around, and then spots us when he looks up.

"What the…" He gapes.

"A little help, here." I plead desperately. Beck bounds behind the stage and rushes up the rafters to us. He grabs Cat by the waist and yanks us both up, pulling me to safety. I almost kiss the metal platform once I'm up there, and I'm still clutching Cat's hand for dear life.

"What happened? Were you two just… hanging out?" Beck jokes.

"Very funny." I sigh.

"The railing broke and Tori fell." Cat explains.

"Well that's not safe… I'll be sure to tell maintenance about it so it doesn't happen again." Beck states. He pats Cat on the shoulder. "Good catch, Cat."

"Thanks. I'm just glad Tori's safe." Cat looks at me with a smile, and I smile back. My little hero. Now I feel even worse about yelling at her and shutting her out. She reaches her arm around to hug me, and I return her hug. I go to release my hand so I can give her a full hug… but Cat doesn't let my hand go. Cat pulls away slowly, a horrified look on her face.

"Um, Cat, you can let go of my hand now." I assure her, wiggling my fingers. She stares at me, her face going paler by the second.

"No, I… I can't." Cat breathes. I blink at her.

"Cat, we're fine now." I promise her.

"No, no we're not." She groans, and I feel her hand tug at mine. "I think I got some Grizzly Glue on my hand, the same hand-"

"-you used to catch me." I finish, my eyes wide. I grip her wrist with my other hand and try to pull away, but my hand doesn't move. "Oh my god."

"What? Let me see." Beck kneels down beside us and tries to run a finger between our palms, but it's solid. He tries to pry them apart, but we both just hiss in pain. He drops our hands. "Sorry, guys. It's dried. You're stuck." He sighs.

Cat and I stare at each other wide-eyed.

Well, so much for giving each other space.

* * *

**Author's Note: BAM! Story concept! How do you like that? Intrigued? Like I said, I thought it'd be fun. I think there was a Family Guy episode like this... Whatever. This is the Cori version, and I hope you guys like it. **

**Let me know if you want more in a review! Or if you like the idea, or if you just want to say hi, or do whatever you want to do. I'm cool with it. Cat and Tori will have some... interesting experiences with this situation. They'll probably grow closer because of it, too. Maybe. I don't know, it's under the "Romance" category with "Cori" in the description so really, who knows?**

**Fun Fact: This story concept came to me in a dream, except in the dream it was a Sikowitz assignment where Cat and Tori had to hug all day while they went on a class trip. I tweaked the idea a little because my subconscious is strange. **


	2. My Magical Life

**Disclaimer: I sit on a cliff, overlooking the horizon. As the sun makes its ascent into the sky, a small flash fills the atmosphere. Within the flash, my eyes barely catch it. The rights to Victorious. But I'm on the cliff, and it's on the horizon out of my reach. "Maybe one day," I whisper. But not today.**

**Not today.**

* * *

"What do you mean _stuck_?" I gape at Beck. He thinks a moment, and then he pulls out his PearPhone.

"According to my PearSynonyms app, 'stuck', or: affixed, clinging, adhered, fastened – oh, glued is a good one." Beck lists off.

"I don't need your sass, mister." I glare at him, and he looks like he's holding back some laughter.

"You have to admit, it's kind of funny. Who does this happen to?" Beck snickers.

"Apparently only me and Cat whenever Grizzly Glue is around." I grumble. I look over at Cat, who seems to be examining our hands with a mix of awe and worry. "And it's not funny!"

"Alright, alright. Not funny." Beck holds up his hands. "But to be fair, it probably saved you. If it hadn't had dried so quickly, you might've slipped from Cat's hand and I would've walked in to a Tori splat on the floor of the blackbox." He explains. Huh, I guess that's true. But still, now that I'm saved… I'd like the use of my left hand again. I glance at Cat again. She's still staring at our hands. I wriggle my fingers a bit again and she jumps, brought back from whatever deep or shallow thought she was having.

"So now what?" I sigh.

"How'd you get the zombie mask off?" Beck asks.

"A solvent." I answer. "Cat, do you still have it?"

"I don't know… Trina took it after the play was done." Cat states.

"Great… and Trina's all the way at the University of San Francisco." I groan.

"How'd she get in there, again?" Beck raises his eyebrow.

"Apparently the Dean there also drinks coconut milk." I sigh, and both Cat and Beck let out an "oh".

"Well, you can call her later. I'll take you two to see Lane and maybe he can uh… figure out what you guys should do for the rest of the day." Beck suggests.

"Kay, kay." Cat nods. We help each other up, since we only have one arm each, and we leave that stupid cloud to follow Beck down from the stupid catwalk. Our hands are clasped together like any couple you'd see walking down the street. My first though is _great, this will raise some questions_. But then I realize the painful position Cat's wrist must have been in to catch me like this… this may be an unfortunate situation, but she did save me from a few broken bones or worse. I have to be grateful for that, and I am.

It's some kind of cruel irony, though. My aim was to take a break from Cat. Now I'm stuck with her. Haw haw, very funny, universe. Okay, I'll admit I was wrong to want to stay away from Cat. I realize that she's a great friend overall and I appreciate her. Now, unstick us, please?

Although maybe not… _immediately._ Her hand is very soft and warm and it's kind of… nice to hold hands with someone, even if it's by the help of Grizzly Glue. Those guys on the dates that Cat ruined never held my hand at any point…

"There it is." Beck exclaims, breaking me out of my thoughts. He picks up a pencil case off the ground. "The reason I came in here in the first place."

I look pointedly at pencil case. "Our hero." I mumble.

"It is a busy hero. Just today it was going to save a kitten from a tree and put out a fire. But it decided to-" Beck waggles the pencil case in the air, "-_pencil_ you in."

"You're just a funny boy today, aren't you?" I scoff.

"Don't tell Jade." He chuckles as we exit the blackbox.

"Ah, Cat. Tori. Is that cloud all hung up then?" Sikowitz asks, appearing on the other side of the blackbox door.

"Sorry, Sikowitz. I promise we'll get it done later, but we have other things on our mind right now." I sigh, holding mine and Cat's attached hands in front of him. He eyes our hands for a moment, one eye squinting.

"Now I'm not one to discourage romance, but school work must come first before intimacy." Sikowitz lectures. My eyes widen and Cat lets out a small squeak. See, even Sikowitz immediately drew that conclusion!

"It's not like that, sir." Beck chuckles. I swear, one of these days I'll glue him to Sinjin and see how he likes it. Although, Cat is much more pleasant to be stuck to… "There was an… accident with some Grizzly Glue and Cat and Tori ending up fusing themselves at the hand."

Sikowitz raises his eyebrow. "You two sure seem to have a lot of instances with Grizzly Glue." He comments.

"Tell me about it." I roll my eyes.

"Well like I said, I'm not one to discourage romance of any kind…" Sikowitz continues. Oh geez.

"We're not together!" Cat pipes up suddenly. We all look at her and she's red in the face. I'm not used to Cat being embarrassed. None of us are.

"Right…" Sikowitz says slowly. "On your way to see Lane?"

"That's our plan." I nod.

"I'll meet you guys later. I have to be back with Jade soon before she starts to wonder about where I am. You know how she is." Beck shrugs. Oh no. _Jade_.

"Beck, you **cannot** tell her about this. She won't let us live it down." I plead.

"She's probably eventually going to find out as soon as she sees your… position anyway. And if she finds out I knew and didn't tell her? She'll kill me. I'll actually be killed." Beck argues.

"Fine." I huff. "C'mon Cat, let's head to Lane. Hopefully he'll be some help."

"Kay, kay." Cat mumbles. God, she's really shut down since we got glued together. Am I that awful to be stuck to that I can even make Cat feel down? Do I not moisturize enough?

"Have fun you two crazy kids." Sikowitz winks and laughs as we head to our respective directions. I swear, Sikowitz is the only teacher I know who encourages fraternizing between students. I still haven't forgiven him for setting me up on a date with Jade.

We head to Lane's office silently at first. Our hands sway slightly and her eyes are focus on the ground. I watch her closely as we come up to a puddle of spilled chocolate milk. She doesn't seem to be paying attention, and I yank her back by the arm just as she's about to step in the puddle.

"Ow! What?" Cat whines.

"You were about to step in chocolate milk!" I accuse. She looks back at the ground.

"Ohh. Who'd just leave that there on the ground like that?" She huffs.

"A chocolate cow." I joke.

"Chocolate cows don't live around here, Tori." Cat explains. I blink at her.

"I… oh. Right. How silly of me." I stare. Apparently being attached to her does not make me understand her better.

And yet, she breaks into a smile. "I'm only kidding! You look so funny when you get all confused." Cat giggles. Did my head just spin around? Feels like it.

"Well at least you're smiling. I was starting to worry you didn't like holding my hand." I comment. Her face falls immediately.

"N-no. I like holding your hand…" She mutters. I stare at her. Her mood dropped instantly. I'm tempted to not believe her enthusiasm at hand-holding.

"Hey guys. Saying a prayer for the fallen chocolate milk during this fine lunch hour?" We hear from up the stairs. We follow the voice to see our guidance counsellor, Lane, standing there and assessing our situation. Holding hands in front of a puddle of chocolate milk, it does kind of seem like we're at a chocolate milk funeral.

"Lane! Just who we wanted to see. We have a problem." I frown.

"I'm sure the janitor will clean it up." Lane assures us.

"Not the chocolate milk!" I groan.

"Tori and I got our hands all stuck together!" Cat exclaims. She looks and sounds like she's about to cry. Lane's eyebrows shoot upward.

"What? How?" He gouges.

"Grizzly Glue." I sigh. He hesitates.

"Huh, you and Cat _sure_ get-"

"Yes, yes. We get in trouble with Grizzly Glue a lot. Thank you. Now counsel us." I huff.

"Well, do you have the solvent from last time?" He asks.

"No. We think Trina has it." I explain.

"Ah. And she's away, right?" Lane concludes, thinking. "Well we can try phoning the company again to see if you can pick up another bottle. It'll be quicker and more reliable, since we don't even know if Trina would know where it is."

"I have them on speed dial!" Cat announces.

"Really?" I question. She shrinks a bit.

"The lady was nice." Cat mumbles. And then I'm yanked down a bit. "Oops. Sorry, Tori. Forgot I couldn't remove my hand for a second. I'll just use my other one…"

Leave it to Cat to forget the whole reason she'd even be calling.

She uses her left hand to pull her PearPhone out, pressing a button and holding it up to her ear. We wait a moment, and then she pulls the phone away again. She presses another button, and then holds up one more time. Her eyebrow scrunches, and we wait for her to start talking. Instead, she ends the call.

"Did you just hang up on them?" I inquire.

"No. It was an automated message thing." Cat answers.

"What'd it say?" Lane asks.

"Oh. Um. Grizzly Glue is out of business." Cat states.

…

What.

"Are you serious?!" I gape.

"It seemed serious." She sighs.

"That's not good… That means you can't get any more solvent from them." Lane ponders.

"No kidding!" I exasperate, throwing my one arm up in the air. I thought this problem would be fixed quickly, like the zombie face one. And this time I didn't have a play at the end of the day to worry about. Now with this setback… I'm a little more concerned about my situation being solved in a timely manner.

And the bell just rang. There goes our lunch, too. It's just one thing after another.

"Listen, while you two are in class I'll look up solvents from other companies or try to find some Grizzly Glue solvent. It'll be fine." Lane promises.

"While we're in class? Lane, we're stuck together!" I scoff.

"That doesn't have to affect your learning abilities. It is mid-term time after all. Just go as you are. And don't try to unstick yourselves on your own. This is strong stuff. You'd sooner rip off your own skin." Lane orders.

"Ew…" Cat cringes.

"Fine…" I mutter. Students start filing in around us, all with the intent of getting to class. I see a couple nearby detach hands as one goes into their locker. Lucky. "Come on, we have to make up for time since we both need to go to our lockers." I sigh.

"Good luck, Lane!" Cat calls out as I drag her toward my locker.

"You too!" He calls back. I twist in my locker combo while simultaneously looking for Jade. I know she's probably itching to call us out.

"Um, Cat, could you help me out?" I request, trying my best to grab my history textbook, notebook and binder all with one hand.

"Oh, right." Cat squeaks, helping to gather my books under my free arm. I notice she won't meet my eyes. At all. She seems to be going out of her way to avoid eye-contact.

"Hey, Cat." I start. She finally looks at me. Her eyes look watery. It about breaks my heart. "Lane will find something for sure. Don't worry about it." I state. She looks down again. I swear, next time I'll make sure her eyes get Grizzly Glued to me.

"Yeah…" She trails off. "My locker now." She closes mine and latches it in place, and then yanks me away so suddenly I nearly drop the books I had just painstakingly gathered.

Like I said, I never understand Cat, really… but right now it's even more concerning. I have no idea what she's thinking. Some people notice our hands as we head to Cat's locker upstairs, but they just shrug it off. They're used to Cat dragging people around enthusiastically. Besides, seeing two girls holding hands doesn't automatically mean they're dating, unless you have Sikowitz's logic. And we're not dating. I don't know why I'm so worried about this.

We reach Cat's locker and I help her out without her needing to ask. She gives a small smile in response. I've always loved Cat's locker concept. It's absolutely covered in scratch and sniff stickers. She puts them on and people can scratch them as they walk by, then she puts new ones overtop when they lose their scent. After four years, it's built up a healthy layer of stickers. Because of this, her locker is constantly colourful and smells sweet… just like her.

"Augh, we're late." I note as the bell rings in the empty halls. Cat closes her locker and hugs her books to her chest with one arm.

"Sorry. I took too long." She sighs. I give her a soft look.

"It's fine. We had two lockers to go to. It was bound to happen." I coo. "It's no big deal."

Even as I say that, I'm worried about walking into history late and having to explain our situation.

We make our way down and enter the room. The class and teacher look up as we enter. Ugh, Ms. Hawkins. Not one of my more favourite teachers at Hollywood Arts. She matches her name sake, the way she leers over her glasses at us like a hawk.

"You're late." She announces dryly.

"Sorry." Cat squeaks. I catch the look on Jade's face as we head to our seats. She has the biggest smirk I've ever seen. Oh great.

Our seats are a little too far apart so Cat tentatively pushes hers closer to mine, and then we maneuver ourselves into our seats. We look around, blushing, and Ms. Hawkins raises an eyebrow.

"Is that really necessary?" She drawls.

"It sure is, ma'am." Jade pipes up. "You can't keep those two turtle doves apart even during class. They're practically _glued_ to each other's side." She grins.

"Jade!" Cat whines, and there's a murmur among our classmates. This is me, sinking further into my chair… wishing I had a bag over my head.

"Oh my. I dreamed of the day this would happen." Rex comments. "Lesbian love in the classroom."

"When did this happen? Cat, I can't believe you would do this to me." Robbie mumbles. This makes me tense up, whipping around to glare at Robbie.

"And what's so wrong with the idea of her being with me? It has _nothing_ to do with you. You don't have a claim on her. She can be with whoever she wants." I snap. His jaw pops open, along with my own. I have no idea where that came from.

"Wow." Jade whistles.

"Um… Tori…" Cat whispers. I let out a frustration groan.

"It's not like that, anyway. We got our hands Grizzly Glued together. _Jade_ decided to make it more than it is." I glare at her. She glares right back.

"A likely story." Ms. Hawkins scoffs, coming to our desks. She yanks our hands, but they don't budge.

"Don't rip my skin!" Cat squeals.

"Oh my." Ms. Hawkins blinks. "You really are glued together."

"Oh thank god." I hear Robbie sigh, relieved the object of his affections isn't actually taken by me. I turn again to shoot him a look. He recoils slightly.

"Careful. That one seems to get a little protective of her woman. Heh heh." Rex jeers. I roll my eyes and turn back to the teacher.

"Well I suppose it can't be helped. Just as long as it doesn't disturb my class more than it already has." Ms. Hawkins sneers. And with a yelp of surprise, I'm jerked up from my seat by the arm.

"Oops, sorry again, Tori!" Cat apologizes, raising her other arm. Ugh, is this going to be a regular thing?

"Yes, Miss. Valentine?" The teacher huffs.

"I can't really write with my left hand." Cat states. Oh, yeah. I guess I'm the lucky one. I still have my dominant hand free.

"That's fine, Miss. Valentine. Perhaps Miss. Vega can give you a copy of her notes, since you're already conveniently tied to one another." She suggests.

"Oh, no, Tori doesn't have to…" Cat trails off.

"Cat, it's no problem." I assure her. There she goes again, doing that whole not-meeting-my-eyes thing.

"She has to take her own notes anyway." Ms. Hawkins mutters, heading back to the front of the classroom. "Now, let's go back to my lecture about the ancient Romans…"

I do my best to pay attention to Ms. Hawkins, since I know Cat will need my notes later. It kind of helps me, too, since I have to focus on getting everything down. At some point I find our desks, although close enough to hold hands, is not close enough to be very comfortable. I shift our desks right against each other, much to the annoyance of Ms. Hawkins.

That's better. Now we're sitting hip to hip, and our hands rest on the crease of our desks. I'm listening to something about Roman pottery when I catch a whiff of something really sweet. It's Cat. I'd recognize that smell anywhere. It's… much sweeter than her locker. I don't think there's another scent that's ever made my sense perk up so much.

I also start to become aware of how close she is. She's leaning in slightly, probably looking at what I'm writing. I'm suddenly so hyper sensitive to her. I don't know why. Cat and I have sat this close before. But I guess now with our hands firmly clasped, and her body leaning in ever so slightly, and just… her _smell_…

Aw, chiz. I just missed the past few things Ms. Hawkins said. I hope Cat was at least listening.

"Okay class. Partner up and find an invention that dates back to Ancient Roman times that was important for this day and age. Prepare a presentation on it. Miss. Valentine, Miss. Vega, I'll assume you'll be partners for this." Ms. Hawkins addresses.

"I think that would be easiest." I answer, my mouth feeling a bit dry.

"Very well. Textbooks out. You have the rest of class to work on it." Ms. Hawkins states, sitting at her desk. There's a growing murmur around the classroom as everyone pairs off to get to work.

"Sorry, I didn't catch the last of what Ms. Hawkins said in the lecture." I inform Cat.

"That's okay." Cat mumbles. I'm so close to breaking out the 'puppies wearing sunglasses' trick just to get her back in a good mood.

"What do you want to work on?" I ask, opening my textbook.

"Anything you want to. I don't want to get in the way." Cat sighs. I stare at her for a moment, and then it clicks. She wasn't like this after our hands got glued, she was quiet and solemn since _before _that. I get it… I never addressed our little argument after my sabotaged date last night. Stupid. No wonder she's distant. How must she feel?

"Hey, Cat…" I say slowly. "I'm not mad at you anymore, you know. For the whole date thing. I was just angry at the time. I don't actually want to stay away from you." I assure her. She looks at me, and my heart breaks into a million pieces when I see the tears in her eyes.

"But Tori, you were right. I ruin everything and get in the way. I…" She stops, shrinking away. "I Grizzly Glue zombie make-up to your face, I ruin your dates, and now it's my fault I got our hands stuck because of my stupid idea." Cat mumbles. "I always mess up. I totally understand you not wanting anything to do with me. I'm just sorry because of me _again _you don't get to stay away."

I gape at her. I think my brain just stalled. Oh my god… this is deeper than I thought. She's acting so down because she feels guilty, and is scared to screw up around me after I yelled at her last night. She's scared of me… she doesn't even get scared of Jade, and she's malicious. Oh my god I'm worse than _Jade_.

My right hand shoots into the air.

"Ms., may I go to the bathroom?" I request. She waves a hand dismissively.

"Sure. Make it quick." Ms. Hawkins grunts. Cat gives me a questioning look as we get up.

"That should be an interesting adventure." Jade snickers. Although the thought of how correct she is pops through my mind, I brush it off in favour of my current focus.

I rush out of the room with Cat in tow and pull her around the corner.

"What'd I do wrong now?" Cat asks meekly. Ugh, Tori, you are such a wazzhole.

"Nothing, Cat. Absolutely nothing." I sigh. "I did the bad thing."

"But you said it yourself. I get in the way. And this-" She shakes out hands, "-proves it. I'm… I'm a bad friend."

"No, Cat not at all. You were just trying to help out, like you said. And you were right… if those guys really liked me, they wouldn't have ended the date because of you." I admit, now that I'm not angry at her and I'm thinking clearly. She pauses a moment.

"But what about the Grizzly Glue?" Cat asks.

"People make mistakes, Cat. Chiz happens. Just like how I made a mistake by telling you to give me space. I regret that." I explain. She flutters her eyes at me.

"You do?"

"Of course I do, Cat. You're my best friend. You… bring joy to my life. How could I live without that?" I smile. She looks down again, away from my eyes. Ugh, Now what'd I do? But… she's smiling and blushing. That's a good sign.

"So I'm still your friend?"

"Absolutely."

"Even though I got our hands glued?"

"Cat… you saved me from falling. Don't forget that. I sure haven't. That was amazing of you, and if being temporarily glued to you is the trade off, I'll gladly take it. I don't think I formally thanked your for that, so… thank you. I'll never stop being grateful to you for that." I assure her, and as an afterthought I add, "Besides, if I have to be stuck to someone, I'm happy it's you."

"Oh." Cat grins. "Good. I'd save you again in a heartbeat."

"I know you would." I nod. "So no more being sad or guilty, okay? And I'll control my temper better. I promise."

"Kay, kay." Cat beams, and we pin our arms between us as we give a tight, one-armed hug. When she pulls back, all signs of solemnness have dissipated, leaving a twinkle in her eye. "And by the way, there's no one else in the world I'd rather be stuck to."

I feel my cheeks burn red hot as she pulls me back to class. She… just made my brain stall again. As usual. But this time, instead of just moving on, I keep replaying her words over and over in my head. They sounded so sweet… like her smell. Ugh why is my stomach doing somersaults.

She's back to normal as we work on our presentation format, giggling and saying random things. Good. If we're going to be stuck together, I'm glad there's no weirdness between us. Weirdness and tension would make this less fun. It's already not fun not having use of one hand.

We get a surprising amount of work on our presentation concept done before the bell rings, even if we haven't chosen our topic yet. We rush out at the end of class before Jade can make any more remarks.

"Ugh, we should've just grabbed both class' books." I huff, rushing us to my locker. We nearly bump into Andre on the way. He looks at us, and then looks at our hands. A grin spreads on his face. Oh, here we go.

"Beck texted me. I have to say, I didn't really believe it." Andre chuckles.

"Yes, hi I'm Tori Vega. Welcome to my magical life." I huff.

"Tori's hand is warm." Cat states with a smile, and I feel my stomach flip again.

"I'm sure it is, Lil Red." Andre pats her on her head. "How's it feel to be a Siamese twin?"

"Fun. Kind of weird. Tori has to take notes for me." Cat explains, and her eyes widen. "Does that make me a Siamese Cat?"

"It sure does." Andre chuckles. He looks at me. "Seems like a barrel of laughs."

"It's a party." I sigh.

"Well I'll see you two around. If I want to find one of you, I'll just be sure to look for the other as well! Ha!" Andre laughs.

"And if I want to find you I'll follow the sound of _lame jokes_." I rebuttal.

"That's cold." Andre points at me before heading off. I shake my head, about to head to my locker again when an arm hits the wall in front of me, stopping me.

"Whoa, hi Robbie." I blink.

"Hi!" Cat chimes in.

"I wanted to talk to you." Robbie declares.

"Listen, I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's been a weird day and-"

"Not you." Robbie cuts me off. "I want to talk to Cat."

"Sure! What's up?" Cat inquires.

"I want to talk to you _alone_." Robbie shoots me an expectant look.

"Uh… Robbie." I raise my eyebrow.

"Boy, they're glued together. Don't you remember?" Rex scoffs.

"Yeah, kind of a package deal at the moment." I raise our joined hands.

"Oh, right." Robbie's face falls. Then he gets a determine look. "Oh well! I don't care who hears me!" He pushes in front of Cat. "Cat, when I thought you were dating Tori… my heart broke. I thought I had missed my chance with you when I thought it was always going to be you and me, baby."

"Gag." Rex wretches.

"But what Tori said made me realize something… I _don't_ have any claim on you. So I want to make it official. Cat Valentine, will you go out with me?" Robbie presents his offer.

Please say no please say no please say no…

"No."

Thank god.

"Wh…what?" Robbie sputters.

"Ouch. Better put some aloe on that burn. **Rejection**!" Rex laughs.

"Robbie, I'm sorry but… I'm not into you that way." Cat sighs. "If I was… I would've already went out with you the other times you asked."

"But… The Cow-Wow, and when we were in our underwear in that garbage bin together…" Robbie frowns.

"You were what." I blink.

"Those didn't mean the same thing to me as it did for you. You're always just… Robbie. One of my closest friends. But that's it." Cat expresses. "There's a girl out there for you… I'm just not her."

"Are you sure?" Robbie asks.

"Positive. Go find your girl." Cat urges. Robbie thinks for a moment.

"Okay…" He turns to me. "Tori, how'd you like to go out sometime?"

"Dude, no!" I scoff.

"_Not Tori_!" Cat snaps.

"Geez, fine. I'll leave you two alone." Robbie mutters.

"You are a desperate boy." Rex comments as they stalk off.

"He's… something." I sigh.

"Definitely something." Cat nods.

"Okay, let's just hurry and get our things, go to our last class, meet Lane, get unstuck." I list off. I start toward my locker again, but I don't get very far when Cat doesn't budge. I'll never make it to my books.

"Um…" Cat starts. I look at her, and she seems back to her solemn state. I tilt my head slightly.

"Cat? You okay? What's up?" I question. "Are you upset about Robbie? You've rejected him before. He'll bounce back."

"No, I know. It's not that." Cat trembles. She looks extremely nervous all of a suddenly.

"Then what?" I inquire. I feel her hand squeeze mine tightly.

"I, uh…"

"Just tell me." I urge. She looks at me, her eyebrows pull back in anxiousness.

"I have to pee."

We stand there, unmoving.

"Actually?"

"Yes."

"Right now?"

"_Yes_."

"But…" I stare at our hands.

Jade was right… this will be an interesting adventure.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Oh, Tori must be _pissed_! I know if I was there, I would say "_Urine _trouble!" Ohh bathroom jokes. Hey, everyone else is making jokes at their expense - thought I'd join in! Ehem... seriously though it's going to be interesting. Probably. Hopefully it doesn't cause them to _flush_ their friendship down the _toilet_! Ahahahah- oooh I hate myself. **

**Anyway if you ignore my bad puns I'm sure can find it within yourself to leave a little note in the box down below for me. It brightens my day, and such. I like bright days. Know what I'll also like? You. But for real, review if you want. I need a little light in my life because I die a little on the inside every time I re-read my bathroom jokes...  
**

**Fun Fact: I actually had a lot to change for this chapter from when I first wrote it to make it more cohesive for later, and I was going to change it all during editing... but when I got to editing, I forgot it all? I'm going to regret this later. Yay!**


	3. I'll Go Wherever You Will Go

**Disclaimer: So this FanFiction writer walks into a bar and they shout "I DON'T OWN VICTORIOUS". And then they purchase a long island iced tea and damn that shit goes down smooth. Then they leave.**

* * *

"I've gotten into a lot of crazy situations since coming to Hollywood Arts, and I think _this _beats them all." I groan as we head into the bathroom.

"I've gotten into a lot of crazy situations my whole life and I've never done anything like peeing with my best friend in the same stall." Cat comments. I let out a grimace. "Although I did pee in a bucket with Sam in the same room once."

"Great. I'm glad you have some experience." I sigh. We stand in front of the empty stall, hesitating. I glance around, happy not to see anyone else. Everyone else must already be off to class. We're definitely going to be late for our next one, but at least we don't have an audience. "You sure you need to do this now? You can't hold it?"

"I'd rather not. It doesn't have to be a big deal, right?" Cat asks.

"Right." I breathe. I mean it's a little weird no matter how you look at it, but it's not like we have much of a choice. Might as well just… get it over with. "You first."

Cat nods and pulls us in the stall, and I quickly turn and lock it. "I'll be quick." Cat states.

"Please do." I blush, staring at the ceiling. I feel Cat struggle a bit.

"Um…"

"What?" I ask, not daring to look down at her.

"My zipper's stuck. I can't get it down with one hand." Cat whines. I let out a groan.

"Okay, I'll… help." I sigh, looking down at her again. Her button is undone, but I can see the stuck zipper she's talking about. I reach my free hand toward her… region… her region!? Ahhgh!

"Tori? What's wrong?" Cat asks after I retract my hand like it was burned.

"N-nothing. Just. You know. Never undid anyone else's pants before." I admit.

"It's just me." Cat assures me. Right. Just Cat. It's just Cat…

Ugh why are these stalls so freakin' tiny?!

I reach down slowly, taking the fabric in between my fingers and giving a tug. We're both looking down at what we're doing, and I can hear her breath. It's heavier than usual… or maybe that's just my breathing.

She zips it up quick and down again, freeing the metal teeth and sliding all the way down. I catch sight of what's underneath. Now all I can focus on are those hipbones creeping down under the thin, hot pink fabric.

"Turn around!" Cat snaps, sounding embarrassed. I jump and rip my eyes away, turning to the door.

"I'm around!" I explain, my face scarlet. I hear Cat start shuffling, and our hands tug a bit with her movements. She's practically right up against me and she nudges my back and my legs with… Whatever she's doing. I can imagine. I bet she's… by now… right behind me… you know… I… um…

I shouldn't be feeling this way about a best friend.

"Are you almost done?" I ask, my voice cracking.

"Uh…" Cat trails off.

"Uh what?" I question, plastered against the door to give her as much room as possible.

"I'm uncomfortable." Cat admits. I let out a sigh.

"Me too." I say.

"Can you like… sing or something? While I… do it." Cat requests.

"Er… sure. Yeah." I comply, swallowing hard. "Uhm… _Cause I'm moving faster, faster, faster, faster than boys. And you're a disaster, 'saster, you leave me no choice. No-no, no-oh whoa. Yeah you, you've got to go faster, faster, faster, faster than boys… faster than boys._"

"Did you have to choose a song telling me to go faster than boys?" Cat whines.

"Oh. Uh." I stumble.

"It's okay. I'm done." Cat announces.

"Thank god. Decent?"

"Hold on." I feel her shuffle and struggle a bit behind me again. "Yes."

"Let's get out of here." I push the door open.

"What about you? Since… we're here." Cat inquires. My stomach leaps into my throat.

"Nope. I can wait." I say quickly.

"Okay." Cat nods. I really hope we get unstuck before I need to relieve myself. I'm not sure I'd be as comfortable as Cat, and she still seemed pretty uncomfortable. "Didn't that song fail the baby test?"

"Don't bring up the baby test. Stupid baby." I grumble, and we scramble around the sink to wash our hands, including our glued ones. In a feeble attempt, I see if water was enough to weaken the glue enough. It wasn't.

"We're going to be like this for a while, aren't we?" Cat blinks.

"Possibly." I mumble. I mean we crossed one hurdle… but I know being stuck to another person permanently will probably yield more. This is going to be a long… however long. Especially if I keep feeling so giddy around Cat.

"What are we going to do?" Cat ponders.

"I don't know. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Let's just get to class and explain our… predicament all over again." I sigh.

We were definitely late to this one. In retrospect, we should've asked Lane for a note or something. Then we could skip the disbelieving teacher and the mischievous looks on the other student's faces. But one class sitting close to Cat again later and the final bell rings, letting us go free at last.

"Well this was a weird day." I comment.

"Yeah." Cat agrees.

"Nearly fell to my death or serious injury, got Grizzly Glued to someone and helped that same someone go to the bathroom." I recall.

"You can't ever say your life isn't interesting." Cat giggles.

"Neither can you." I chuckle.

"Well, well, well. There you two are." I freeze as I hear Jade's voice. She comes sauntering over to us. "So, how's the happy new couple?"

"Less happy now." I glare. She gives a smirk.

"How was your bathroom adventure?" She interrogates. Both Cat and my faces drop. How did she know? Then I remembered she was there when I asked Ms. Hawkins to go to the bathroom. It was a different circumstance, but she believes that was the moment we shared that... moment.

"C'mon, Jade. Give them a break. It must be a difficult time." Beck scolds. Oh good. He's on our side now. "Imagine if you were stuck to either of them."

Jade stares at us a moment, and then clicks her tongue. "I'd rather dig out my own organs with a spoon."

"You can feel free to do that without being stuck to us, Jade." I give her a faux smile. Jade merely smirks and takes out a notepad and pen, then begins to write.

"Look at me, Vega! Look at how I can use both hands because I don't have a _Cat_ stuck to one!" Jade jeers.

"Actually Cat and I have figured out to work together to use our free hands to do tasks just fine." I state.

"It's true." Cat smiles. Jade looks us up and down.

"You know, I thought it'd be more fun to give you hell for this one because I thought you'd be more miserable…" Jade narrows her eyes. I look at Cat. She has a plain look on. I choose my words carefully because I don't want to upset her again.

"Well it's not ideal but… Much worse things could happen to us. Not weirder, but worse." I explain. Jade gives Cat a look.

"Interesting. You don't mind permanently holding hands, huh?" Jade questions. I notice a faint blush on Cat's face.

"Jade…" Beck's voice is filled with a warning.

"It's not permanent, anyway. Not really. We'll get a solvent soon." I state.

"Perhaps." Comes Lane's voice. We all turn to him.

"Lane!" I gasp, hoping for good news.

"Did you find anything?" Cat asks.

"Well, uh… No." Lane admits.

"Ha!" Jade laughs sadistically. Cat and I blink at our guidance counsellor.

"What do you mean?" I gape.

"Well turns out you actually aren't the first people to have this happen to. Grizzly Glue went out of business because they were sued so much. In order to pay the fines, Grizzly Glue sold all their solvent to Nasa for use in… heat shields or something." Lane shrugs. I look at Cat.

"This glue is so intense that its solvent can but used for heat shields?!" I gawk. She gives me a worried look and turn back to Lane.

"What about other solvents?" Cat questions.

"I searched up every industrial adhesive company I could. Their chemicals are different than Grizzly Glue. It just doesn't work. One website actually had 'Our solvent doesn't work on Grizzly Glue. Stop asking' on it." Lane sighs. "Beyond that, I couldn't find anyone who has some nearby. No construction companies… engineers… I swear, that bottle Trina has might be the only one left."

"You meant to tell me that getting our hands free is all up to my _sister_?!" I shout.

"HA!" Jade laughs again.

"I'm afraid so." Lane says apologetically.

"Ugh, this is just perfect!" I growl.

"Tori, I'm sorry." Cat begins to cry. I immediately snap out of my tirade. Right… I was going to work on my temper.

"No, Cat, it's okay. It's just a bit of a setback. We'll get free. It just might take a little longer. That's all." I say comfortingly. She lets out a sniff and I tip her face to me with my free hand, cupping her cheek. "We can handle this. We make a great team."

She smiles a little at this. "Yeah, we do." She nods.

"See? We'll be fine." I give her a wink, and she giggle.

"Uh huh. We'll see how long that lasts." Jade smirks.

"Sorry about this." Lane scratches his head. "If I had a lotion to get you unstuck, I'd give it to you."

"It's alright. You did what you could." I sigh. "I'll go home and… call Trina. Hopefully she won't be too busy with college life to help me out."

"I can't speak for Jade, but if you two need anything, just ask." Beck offers.

"Thank you for not laughing anymore." I mumble.

"Hey, it was funny at first. Now it's kind of sad and I want to help out." Beck confirms.

"Be meaner or I'll break up with you." Jade sneers, but Beck ignores her empty threat.

"Well I can't really ride my bike like this…" Cat notes.

"And I still don't have my license… not that I could drive like this anyway." I add. I've been getting a ride with my mom since Trina moved away, but she's busy today so I was going to cab it. Ugh, I was going to the DMV tomorrow, too…

"So you'd like a ride. Got it." Beck nods, and Jade rolls her eyes.

"Great." She huffs.

"Think of it as more time to make fun of them." Beck grins.

"Beck!" I snap, and Jade touches his cheek.

"I knew you had it in you." Jade smirks. I let out a sigh and follow Beck to his car. Cat walks close, watching the ground again. I know she still feels a bit guilty about our predicament… and I'm to blame for why she feels so bad. I pull her close as we walk and she looks up at me curiously, then she smiles. Jade raises an eyebrow at me, but I ignore her. Cat just leans into me as we walk and… it feels really nice, actually. It's very calming, despite my worries about how the rest of the day will go.

"So which house?" Beck asks.

"Let's just go to your house, Tor. I'll call Sam and tell her what's happening." Cat offers.

"To the Vega's." Beck exclaims. We pile in his car and he takes off. Both Cat and I have to work a bit to get our seatbelts on, but we get it done and then Cat's calling Sam on her phone.

"Hi, Sam? I'm going to be staying at Tori's tonight… thought you should know." Cat explains. She pauses a minute while Sam answers. "Oh… right, I forgot. I'll make you my meatballs another time. And I'll make more next time to make up for it." She pauses again. "No, I really can't just come make them now… cooking would be, uh… hard right now." Another pause. "Why? Well, um… I kind of got my hand Grizzly Glued to Tori's hand…" Cat suddenly yanks the phone away from her ear as a very loud Sam-laugh is heard over the receiver. She holds up the phone to her ear again tentatively. "Sam? Sam! Ugh. Talk to you later." Cat hangs up with a huff. "She must've thought I told a funny joke."

"I really enjoy that girl." Jade chuckles.

"Your parents won't mind our situation?" Cat asks me.

"I can't guarantee they won't also laugh at us, but they'll understand. They've never minded having you over, and you haven't been for a long time." I note. She blinks.

"Yeah, I haven't." Cat nods. We used to have sleep overs all the time, but it stopped at some point. It was around when Cat moved in with Sam… She spent a lot of time with her now.

"Maybe we can take this opportunity to actually get more time to spend together." I suggest, and Cat grins at me. She cuddles into my side which makes my face heat up, and I catch Jade staring at me through the side mirror. I look away quickly, as if I'm worried she can actually see the butterflies bubbling from my stomach.

"So what's the plan?" Cat asks as Beck drops us off.

"Call Trina immediately… probably make some food. I'm starving after missing lunch." I sigh.

"Ooh, good idea." Cat nods. I unlock my door and pull Cat in, with her closing the door behind us.

"… So… how about you start fixing something to eat while I call Trina?" I suggest.

"What do you have?" Cat inquires.

"Just rummage around the kitchen. I'm sure you'll find something… I'll follow you wherever you go." I chuckle.

"Of course." Cat giggles. We head into the kitchen and I pull out my phone as Cat starts to sing. "_If I could, then I would, I'll go wherever you will go. Way up high, or down low, I'll go wherever you will go. If I could turn back time, I'll go wherever you will go. If I could make you mine, I'll go wherever you will go._"

I stop my motions to call Trina and just listen to her voice, following her around the kitchen dumbly. I hear Cat sing almost every day- she loves to sing. And yet, I never get tired of her voice. There's something really special about it… and not just because she has vocal control and a range that's hard to match. It's… hypnotic whenever she sings her heart out.

"Tori? You were going to call?" Cat questions, and I blink myself back to reality.

"Right." I nod, dialing Trina's number. Cat starts humming the song softly. I send the call and hope for the best.

"**Hello**?"

"Trina! Thank god you picked up." I sigh in relief.

"…**Who is this?**" Trina asks, sounding confused. I gape a moment.

"Tori. Your sister. Ring a bell?" I scoff.

"**Oh yes, yes. I almost forgot I had a less successful sister what with all my college shenanigans…**" Trina rambles off.

"Trina." I grumble. It was so quiet without her around.

"**Well what do you expect? You don't call, don't text… not even a fax**." Trina laments.

"Nobody uses fax anymore." I roll my eyes.

"**But I knew it'd be a matter of time before you came around and wanted to talk to lil old me again. I don't blame you. I mean, it's me.**" Trina gushes.

"Well, I, uh…" I stumble.

"**Unless you decided to call because you wanted something from me**." Trina says suspiciously.

"Actually I _did_ want something from you." I admit. There's silence over the phone, and then a 'click'. I hesitate before looking at my phone, not believing she hung up on me. But there's the call end screen flashing on my PearPhone. "She hung up on me!" I groan.

"Did you make the phone call about her?" Cat asks, trying her best to spread jelly on some bread with one hand. Right, even Cat knows how Trina works by now.

"No."

"Well there you go."

"I guess I'm a little out of practice when dealing with… her." I huff, calling her back.

"**Helloooo**." Her voice appears over the receiver again.

"Trina, it's Tori again." I rush out.

"**Tori? To-ri… I don't recall a To-ri.**" Trina says absent-mindedly. I roll my eyes again.

"You didn't let me finish. What I want from you is… to hear about how college is going!" I exclaim.

"**Oh, well that changes everything! College is fabulous. I don't know what all that fuss is about it being hard. It's a joy. There's parties all the time… cute guys galore… and going to classes are **_**optional**_** Tori. It's amazing.**" Trina laughs. I blink a moment.

"But… you've been going to class, right? I mean, you still pay a lot of money to go there." I comment.

"**Now you just sound like mom. If I wanted to talk to mom, I'd have mom call me**." Trina scoffs. I let out a sigh. Trina probably isn't going to make it to next semester there at this rate.

"Well I'm… glad you're having a good time." I say through gritted teeth.

"**Thanks! You know, I think I was made for college. I don't think I'll ever leave!**" Trina exclaims. I doubt that… "**Actually, I have a party to get ready for soon. Are we done here**?"

I look at the clock. A party to get ready for at 4:30pm? Should I be worried? "No I guess that's all… Ooh, wait! I _just_ remembered something right this second, if you wouldn't mind taking the time to help me out." I try to come off as convincing as I can so she doesn't hang up again.

"**Well… I guess since you seem invested in my life, I'll hear you out. What's up?**" Trina asks. Bingo.

"I was just wondering if you happened to have the Grizzly Glue solvent there with you?" I ask sweetly. There's silence over the phone for a moment.

"…**What'd Cat do to you now?**" Trina sighs.

"What? Cat didn't do anything! Nothing at all!" I exclaim. Cat raises her eyebrow at me and I let out a huff. "We got our hands glued together."

"**Ooh, la la**." Trina chuckles.

"Why do some people keep reacting like that? Stop reacting like that." I blush.

"**Well you two do seem to get in to these… sticky situations often**." Trina notes.

"And that's the other way people react." I sigh. "Do you have the solvent or not?"

"**Hmmm… Nope! I don't remember packing it. What would I do with an industrial glue solvent in college?**" Trina questions.

"Ugh, great. That's not what I wanted to hear." I mumble. Cat gives me a worried look, and I squeeze her hand.

"**It might still be in my room there, though.**" Trina states.

"Treen, your room is a disaster zone after you moved out from all your packing and unpacking and repacking…" I recall.

"**Hey. It's hard to figure out what you want to take with you for the rest of your life**." Trina scoffs. "**So if you don't find it, buy a new one.**"

"We can't. The company is out of business." I whine.

"**Oh. That's a problem**." Trina says.

"So what exactly do I do if I can't find the solvent in your mess of a room?" I question.

"**I guess you'll just have to marry her**." Trina suggests. And my blush is back.

"Wh-what? I… You… N-no. No." I shake my head.

"**You don't sound too opposed to the idea, baby sis**." Trina teases. I clench my jaw and hang up. Stupid Trina.

"So what happened?" Cat asks, pushing a triangular-cut peanut butter and jelly sandwich toward me. She even cut off the crusts… with one hand. She's wonderful.

"Trina doesn't have it with her, but she said it's probably in her room. Maybe." I sigh.

"Well at least that's something. I'm sure we'll find it if we try really hard." Cat smiles. Got to love that positive outlook.

"Yeah. I'm sure we will." I smile back. Her smile grows just before she bites into her carefully made sandwich. "Is my hand really that warm?" I ask suddenly, remembering her statement to Jade earlier. She seems to choke a bit on what she was chewing.

"Um, yeah." Cat confirms, swallowing her food.

"Like… sweaty warm?" I ask hesitantly. I have to admit it's been something I've been a little self-conscious about… and Cat would be too nice to say anything.

"Oh. No, not in that way." She thinks for a moment. "More like… the kind of warm when it's storming outside, but you're inside watching it curled up in a blanket with some tea." Cat describes. I give her a curious look.

"You get all that from holding my hand?" I question. She nods slightly.

"Mhm. Or just being around you." Cat states plainly, making me choke on my own sandwich. "Is the sandwich okay?"

"Uh. Erm. Uh Yeah. Yeah, it's great. Very talented one-handed sandwich making skills." I note, my brain trying to catch up with my mouth. Cat just said… she feels warm when she's around me. And I liked hearing that.

"Well when I lived with the parents, I got used to swatting my brother away when he was trying to do something weird while I was making food. And now I'm used to holding Sam back from eating dinner before I can even finish making it." Cat explains.

"You can hold Sam back?" I inquire, surprised.

"Not easily." Cat giggles.

"But I thought you told Sam on the phone that you couldn't make her meatballs like this." I question.

"Usually I can at least switch hands." Cat smiles, and I let out a laugh at picturing Cat holding a hungry Sam back while trying to cook. I give her hand another squeeze. She feels warm, too. We finish our sandwich, get a drink, and then we prepare for our mission.

"Cat… I can't guarantee what we'll find behind this door." I shudder, looking at Trina's closed door.

"It can't be that bad." Cat assures me, but I shake my head.

"No, you don't understand. We're not just going to be looking at her room, and that's already bad enough. We'll be looking _through_ it." I gulp. "Just… be careful when opening any drawers, okay?"

"What would I find in her drawers?" Cat tilts her head.

"I don't know, and that's what I'm worried about." I mutter. "Come on. We'll just soldier through, find the solvent, and then we'll be free. Remember what it looks like?"

"Uh huh." Cat nods enthusiastically.

"Great. On the count of three. One… two… three!" And I push the door open.

Now I know why my parents keep this door closed.

I can't see a floor. It's all covered in clothes, shoes, papers and random stuff. And then there's stuff across her desks, dresser… There's a large pile avalanching out of the closet. This could take a while.

"I thought Trina would've wanted to take a lot of stuff with her to college." Cat blinks.

"She _did_." I exclaims, remembering the bags upon bags of luggage she had when moving out.

"How did she live like this?" Cat gapes. See, even Cat thinks it's crazy.

"She used to say she needed an abstract space for her creative, artistic mind. That's how she'd get out of cleaning it." I sigh.

"Oh. Well where do we start?" Cat asks.

"Normally I'd suggest you start on one side and I'll start on the other, but…" I hold up our hands.

"We're going to need music." Cat states, pulling out her phone with a smile. She puts on an upbeat song and I smile along with her. This reminds me of the time Jade and I were cleaning up the blackbox after the food fight scene. Except, this time we don't have a cop to clean up for us. But that's okay, Cat and I make a great team after all.

I'll never stop feeling stupid for wanting to spend time apart from her.

"Let's start with the closet." I suggest.

"Kay, kay." Cat nods. We stumble our way across and start by poking the pile with a broom we found (why does Trina have a broom in her room if she doesn't clean?) just to make it collapse more so we don't get buried, then we get to work. We comb through thoroughly, careful not to miss anything. As we go along we joke about the strange things we find. One of the things we found was a poster of Justin Timberlake back in his N'Sync days with some clear lipstick marks all over it. Cat pretended to be Trina and swooned at the poster. She does… a scarily good impression of Trina, and I laughed so hard I nearly swallowed my tongue.

Then we found a picture of Beck with the same lipstick marks. We both promised not to tell Jade.

"Nothing. No solvent." I huff.

"I found a foam finger that says '#1 cutie'." Cat proclaims, waving it around with her free hand. Ha. Suits Cat way more than Trina.

"That's great but it's not the solvent." I note.

"Don't worry. We still have **a lot** more to check." Cat gestures at the room with her foam finger.

"That still makes me worry." I mumble. Cat takes off the foam finger and pulls me across the masses of items.

"What about the bed? My brother always used to hide weird things under his bed." Cat states.

"Do I want to know what kind of weird things?" I inquire.

"I don't know. One time I thought my brother was hiding a puppy in his room, so I checked under his bed…" Cat gets a deep frown on her face. "It wasn't a puppy."

"_Okay_ so I **don't** want to know." I hold up my hand.

"That's probably for the best. Trina's can't be that bad." Cat shrugs.

"I'll look. She's my sister." I suck in a deep breath. Cat touches my shoulder gently and gives me a serious look.

"Good luck." Cat wishes. I give her a mock salute, and I lower myself to the ground while the glue holds our hands firm. I lift the blanket… And I just see an overwhelming mass amount of more things.

"Oh god." I groan.

"What is it?" Cat asks.

"You know how you can see how messy Trina's room is from up there?" I croak.

"Uh huh."

"Duplicate it and you've got the same amount of stuff under here." I sigh.

"Oh geez." I can almost hear Cat cringe, and she squeezes my hand. "Just start throwing stuff out from under it and I'll see what it is."

"Okay." I breathe, reaching into the abyss… And that's when the pile shifts. "What the chiz!" I yelp, rolling back and yanking Cat a bit. "Something moved!"

"Oh god it's the not-puppy all over again!" Cat cries.

"No wait." I squint my eyes, looking into it again. I find the culprit, and begin to pull it out "Oh, Cat… guess what I found…" I smile devilishly.

"What? What is it?" Cat asks worriedly. I yank out the fuzzy thing and hold it up to her.

"Demon puppy!" I screech, and she lets out a scream.

"Tori! That's not a demon puppy! That's a dancing monkey!" Cat laughs. Indeed, I found some sort of electronic stuffed monkey that does a jig. I'm impressed it's been running for so long. "An ugly dancing monkey."

"Aw, Cat, don't be like that." I grin, standing up. "The ugly monkey thinks you're really pretty." I chuckle, holding it up her face. She tries to block it with one hand, probably much like she'd try to block Sam, but I know her better. I can read her movements. "Give me a hug, pretty lady." I drop my voice into a gorilla-like voice, rapidly running the dancing monkey over her face and neck.

"Tori! That tickles!" Cat squeals, and she yanks my hand in reaction. I stumble forward a bit, and of course I trip on something on Trina's floor. Suddenly I'm having flashbacks of falling off the rafters of the blackbox as I fall forward, taking Cat with me. The monkey falls from my hand as I try to steady myself, but it's far too late as Cat falls on the bed – with me on top of her. Our conjoined hands land above us, and I'm suddenly so aware of her body beneath mine. "That's what you get… for tickling me with an ugly monkey." Cat gasps.

"It just wanted a hug from a pretty girl." I mumble, looking down at her. Her eyelashes flutter, and there's a soft smile on her face.

"You think I'm pretty?" Cat whispers. I feel a lump in my throat, but I barely have to look over her features before the answers escapes my mouth.

"There's no way I couldn't." I murmur. I see the pink flood her cheeks.

"You're too nice. And also pretty. Nice, pretty and warm. It's why I like you so much." Cat breathes. I feel a tingle down my spine.

"I like you too, Cat. Even after I was mad at you, I missed you. That's why we're such close friends – even when we aren't glued together." I mumble. Her lips press together – her lips that I can't help but notice look really soft right now.

"Yeah. The best of friends." Cat sighs. Her features are soft as she looks at me, and again I feel a tingle.

The best of friends. Yes. I really like having Cat as my friend. We fit well together. I can talk about her with anything. She makes even the most negative situation into a positive one. Friends. I feel very grateful for our friendship.

So when you're grateful for a friendship, it's normal to get butterflies around them, right? And when you're lying on top of them, and you feel that warmth they were talking about… it's just a sign of a deep, profound friendship. And, you know… the growing need to lean my head down and kiss her and touch her skin and run my fingers through her hair… that's just totally being human, right? I mean, being this close to someone so attractive and looking at you like you're so special… how could you not want to?

It doesn't help that her PearPhone started playing some soft, romantic music when this first took place, either.

Her breath brushes my cheek and her eyes are practically shimmering so that I can see my reflection in those caramel brown irises. One of us should've moved by now. I don't know how long we've been lying here, but it feels… nice… except for the overwhelming urge to kiss her. But friends don't do that. That would mean I have feelings for her beyond friendship. And that's just… not true… I've never felt that way about Cat…

Then again, the way she's looking at me… as if she's curled up during a rainstorm… completely comfortable… The bright look that I've always admired… is it really a far stretch to say it's possible I could have feelings for Cat?

"Tor…" Cat murmurs.

"Yeah?" I breathe. She bites her lip, and for a moment I think she starts to lean up to kiss me…

"Uhh… may I ask what's going on here?"

Both Cat and I rip our heads to the side to look at the doorway where my parents are standing. I think my blush has just spread to my entire body.

"Cat… Tori… is there something you need to tell us?" My dad raises his eyebrow.

Honestly dad… I have no idea.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Yaaay sexual tension! My favourite kind of tension. Also, parents! Cat and Tori have some s'plainin' to do (don't they always?). Anywho, recap: They're still stuck, Trina's useless, and Tori's starting to have some epiphanies about Cat. And the plot thickens! I guess. Also bathroom fun (no bad puns this time, I promise). **

**So yeah, reviewing is still a thing if you want to take the time. If you do, I usually take the time to reply (sometimes I forget because I'm a horrible person, but reviews always make me smile regardless). I really wanted to make a Cori kiss happen in this chapter. I really did. But I held off. My will power is astounding. **

**Fun Fact: I tried putting on and taking off skinny jeans with one hand just to make sure it can be done so this chapter would be accurate. It can be done. The things I do for you people, my god.**


	4. Coming Clean

**Disclaimer: Arrghh, I be Cap'n waitwhathuh, and I be sailing the FanFiction seas fer a long'n time and - Oh fuck it. I don't own Victorious. **

* * *

"So… what's going on here?" My mom points between us, and it takes me a moment to realize I'm still lying on top of Cat… on a bed… with my parents standing right there…

We quickly scramble from our awkward position and sit on the bed, brushing through our hair innocently as if we were actually just caught doing something naughty.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Vega." Cat greets cheerfully.

"Hi, Cat." My dad says dryly.

"That wasn't what it looked like." I breathe out. I watch their eyes go to our still-conjoined hands, and I feel myself blush. Oh, this looks bad.

"We got home around the same time and when we heard music coming from this room… we thought Trina might have come home." Mom notes. "And instead we find you and Cat… together."

"Can't say it wasn't a bit of a relief." My dad mumbles, and my mom elbows him. I blow out a breath.

"Mom, dad, before you say anything else-" I start, but my mom cuts me off.

"Now, Tori, you know we accept you no matter what and if you're happy with Cat then that's fine. But we're not okay with you two sneaking around." Mom states. Oh god. Why is this happening.

"Especially in Trina's room. I mean, not exactly the most romantic setting…" Dad shrugs, causing mom to elbow him again. WHY.

"Guys-" I flush.

"We want you to be open with us, Tori. Especially with your relationships… of any kind." Mom assures me.

"You aren't listening…" I sigh.

"Just as long as Cat doesn't hurt my baby. Right, Cat?" Dad winks and I'm about two seconds away from jumping out Trina's window.

"I, um…" Cat blushes, staring wide-eyed, her jumbled mind unable to comprehend the situation… and I'm right there with her. One second.

Wait, I can't jump out the window. Cat's glued to me. Chiz.

"I don't know what you guys are thinking, but it's not like that." I try to explain.

"Oh, Tori, I know this must be hard. I'm sure you're worried everything will change now. But it won't. You're still our little girl and we love you." Mom comes over to give me a hug, tears in her eyes.

"And of course we love Cat." Dad smiles with a nod.

"Is this really happening right now…?" I groan.

"Yes! We really are okay with your relationship!" My mom exclaims. "Now, surely you can let go of Cat's hand for one second to return your mother's hug?"

"I **can't**! We're glued together!" I huff. My mom lets me go and stands with my father, a hand on her heart.

"Awww." They sigh together. I smack my forehead with my free hand.

"For wazz sake Cat and I _aren't dating_!" I shout. They blink a moment.

"You mean it's more of an… open relationship?" Mom asks, and my dad looks at her.

"I don't know how I feel about that." Dad mutters.

That's it. I give up.

"Um, no, Tori means there's nothing romantic between us." Cat finally pipes up. "We were just in a tickle fight when you came in. And our hands are glued together literally… by Grizzly Glue." She explains. My parents look at me.

"Tori, is this true?" Mom inquires.

"Yes. We were in here trying to find the solvent. That's what I've been _trying_ to tell you this whole time." I grumble, trying to shake Cat's hand loose. They stare at us a moment.

And then they burst out laughing.

"Told you they would laugh." I mutter to Cat as my parents try to compose themselves.

"So you… you and Cat… ahaha!" Dad bellows his laughter.

"You're literally glued together! Oh that's rich!" Mom laughs along.

"Yes, yes, laugh it up." I mumble. I hear a giggle next to me and I see Cat partially covering her mouth. "Not you, too."

"It's a little funny." Cat giggles, and I roll my eyes. But now there's a smile on my face. It's certainly a funny situation in an… annoying way.

"Okay… okay we're good." Mom breathes. "Did you find the solvent?"

"Not yet. And if we don't, it'll be almost impossible to find another." I explain. My dad suddenly crosses his arms, looking serious.

"Well that's a problem. We can't exactly have you two like this the rest of your life." He comments.

"Thank you. Now you see our issue." I scoff.

"Sorry, sweetie. We'll help you two look. We can cover more ground that way." Mom offers.

Finally. Some actual help around here. Although, I admit it was kind of nice to hear my parents were so accepting… even if there was no reason to be.

We spend the next hour and a half combing through the clutter that is Trina's room, and we don't find any sign of the solvent. Not even a cleaning product.

"There has to be… a spot we missed." I gasp. "Did anybody check in that corner? Or that one?"

"Tori, we looked everywhere." Cat squeezes my hand with a frown on her face.

"I know but… but it has to be here!" I whine. Seriously, I need that solvent _now_. I was trying not to drink water to hold it off, but it's finally happened. I need to pee.

"Relax, Tori. I'm sure it's in here, but we've been looking far too long. We'll check again tomorrow. Cat, you're free to stay the night of course." Mom offers.

"Thanks, Mrs. Vega." Cat smiles.

"Ugh, fine." I glower. I'm resigned to my fate. Cat gives me a worried look.

"I'll make us dinner and we'll figure out a plan b." Mom states.

"And possibly c, d, and e." Dad adds, and then he leans toward Cat. "Are you sure about not dating my daughter?"

"Um, well…" Cat turns beet red.

"Dad!" I snap.

"Hey, I distrust boys with my daughter much more than I distrust Cat. Can you blame me for preferring her for you?" He winks, walking out of the room. I hang my head, a deep sigh leaving my lips.

"Allow me to apologize for… them" I mumble.

"It's okay. I think we're all a little confused." Cat shifts slightly. "Um, are you starting to get annoyed with me?"

My head snaps up. "What?" I gape.

"Well it's just that you seem much more desperate to get unglued and I get it's not very easy being glued to another person but you didn't seem as upset before and now you seem upset about me and I know I can get on people's nerves easily at least that's what Jade says all the time and I don't want to annoy you so-"

I place a finger over Cat's lips, stopping her run-on sentence. "Cat, I'm not annoyed with you. I promise. I'm just worried about how this is going to work in the long run. And I also want you to get your life back as well." I sigh.

"Oh. Okay." Cat nods, looking relieved. "You'd tell me if I'm being annoying though, right? I'm trying not to be."

"Cat, just be yourself. Please. I don't want you stepping on eggshells around me. I'm not Jade. Don't want to be like Jade. I want you to be comfortable around me." I say softly.

"I am comfortable around you. More than anyone else in the world." Cat mumbles, and she pushes against me with a tight one-armed hug. I feel those butterflies making a return.

"Careful. My parents might walk in and thinking we're dating again." I sigh, retuning the hug. Cat giggles and gives me a squeeze.

"Crazy, huh? Us… dating…" Cat comments.

"Yeah. Crazy." I breathe. "Cat, not so tight. I already need to-" I cut myself off, and she pulls away.

"Need to what?" She questions. I let out a sigh. No point in avoiding it now.

"I need to use the bathroom." I admit.

"Oh." Her eyes widen. "It's not that bad. I can sing during it, too."

"Thanks. That'll… make it better. Maybe." I comb through my hair awkwardly. I can't believe I'm about to do this.

It's much easier in a large bathroom rather than a school stall, but it was still awkward on many levels heading the call of nature while holding Cat's hand, her back to me, while she sang Five Fingaz To The Face.

We must be among the closest best friends in existence now.

"That was an… experience." I run my hand through my hair as we head to the stairs.

"You have pretty wallpaper in your bathroom." Cat notes absentmindedly. Good. I'm glad that's what she focused on. Although… I do wonder if she was as affected as I was in the school bathroom…

Best not to think about it.

"Uh, thanks…" I mutter, and we meet my mom in the kitchen.

"Hey girls, I'm making lasagne." Mom proclaims.

"Ooh, sounds good Mrs. Vega." Cat smiles.

"So, I'm going to have to figure out how to get you two out of those clothes." Mom states, looking thoughtful. I feel my hair stand on end.

"Wh-wh-wh-you-huh-what?" I stutter.

"Well you can't just wear the same thing for however long, and it'll be impossible for you to change your tops while your hands are like that." Mom observes, and I look at our arms. We're both wearing shirts with sleeves. Oh god, she's right.

"I didn't even think about that." Cat mutters.

"I guess we'll just have to cut them off." Mom shrugs. "It's a shame…"

"_No_." Both Cat and I gasp. Mom crosses her arms.

"Well you both should've thought about that before you started fooling around with Grizzly Glue." Mom scolds. "You've found yourself in this situation and now you'll have to deal with it. Besides, we can send your shirts to a tailor to get them stitched up."

"My Nona knits." Cat suggests.

"Yes but what about getting dressed? We can't exactly have Cat's Nona sew our shirts on every day." I huff.

"I'll figure something out." Mom assures us.

"No DMV for you tomorrow, Tori." My dad comments, coming up from behind us.

"Oh, c'mon." I groan. "Fate doesn't want me to get my license."

"Sorry but as a cop I can't exactly encourage you driving while holding onto another person. Both hands on the wheel and all that." Dad states.

"Life isn't fair." I mumble.

"Oh!" Cat gasps, slapping my hand to her mouth.

"Um, Cat…" I blink. She quickly removes my hand.

"Sorry. Forgot again. I meant: Oh!" Cat this time covers her mouth with her left hand. "I was going to drive up and visit my parents on Saturday."

"I guess we're both hindered by this." I sigh.

"We'll figure that out, too. Maybe it won't be an issue if we find the solvent tomorrow." My mom tries to assure us. Cat and I look at each other, concerned. How long will we really be like this? How many more awkward situations will we go through? What if we _actually_ start getting on each other's nerves? By the time we get free, we might be at the point where we want to put as much space between us like I originally wanted. And now, that's the last thing I want. "Girls?"

My mom snaps us out of our unspoken worries. "Yeah, mom?" I breathe.

"Dinner's almost ready. You mind working together to set the table?" She requests.

Cat and I complied and we got the table set pretty quickly. We almost had an incident where we both reached for the same plate and that plate nearly ended up smashed on the ground… mostly because I retracted my hand so fast from the tingles I got at touching her soft skin. Which is stupid, because… I'm already perpetually holding her hand.

After dinner, we decided to fully clean up Trina's room tomorrow as a last-ditch effort to find the solvent. After that, if there's no solvent… We'll move on to a new plan. This plan may involve surgery, and according to my dad, that'd probably be a painful experience with lots of recovery time for our hands.

That solvent _better_ be in Trina's room. I'd rather not be surgically removed from Cat.

Later while working on homework on my bed, I notice Cat worriedly tapping away at her PearPad.

"Cat? You okay?" I ask.

"I think I'd rather just stay glued to you than have our hands cut apart." Cat admits, biting her lip. "I mean, it's not so bad, is it? There's no need to resort to violence…"

"Cat." I stop her, cupping our joined hands with my right hand. "We're going to find the solvent. If not Trina's room, then somewhere. I mean, you guys bought it. It has to be somewhere. Maybe around the house or… even at the school. Maybe you took it home and didn't notice, so your parents have it. I don't know. But I know it couldn't have just disappeared. We'll find it. No surgery needed."

"I hope you're right." Cat blows out a breath, leaning back on my pillow.

"You know I am." I wink. "C'mon, you're usually the cheerleader. Tell me I'm right."

"You're right." Cat mumbles.

"Can't hear you."

"You're right! You're right!" Cat squeals when dig my hand into her side. She chuckles when I pull back, a smile on her face. I smile back, leaning over her. Her faces falls slightly, and she reaches up to cup my cheek. I search her eyes, trying to figure out what she's thinking about. Is she thinking about earlier in Trina's room, before my parents walked in? "What'd you get for question four?"

Oh.

"Um… Haven't gotten to that one yet. Here, we'll work on it together." I pull Cat up and we lay on our stomachs as we look through our books. Cat always has a tendency to lean so close… her head is on my shoulder as we work through the question, and it makes my head fuzzy. In a good way, though. I don't know. I heard your brain releases a chemical that makes you feel content when you cuddle with someone. Cat just seems to release a lot of that chemical. Relevant, since we're working on science homework.

"It says that… your enzymes start to break down when you have a high fever, and that affects your body's ability to absorb protein." Cat reads off.

"There's the answer to the last question, then. Cat, you're pretty good at science, you know?" I comment, sort of surprised. I mean, this is the girl who says 'Hawai-i-i'.

"I like science. Not as much as theatre, but you know." Cat shrugs. "Now let's work on history. I don't like that as much."

"Right. We have that assignment where we have to report on an invention from Ancient Roman times that's still important today…" I trail off. Cat starts giggling, and I see her looking at her history text book. "What?"

"There've been signs that the first adhesive was used in Roman times." Cat chuckles.

"Well we know all about that. Let's work with that." I smirk. I'm glad she's feeling light-hearted again.

After making some good progress on our assignment, there's a knock at our door.

"Come in." I call out, and my mom enters.

"Hi, girls. How are you doing?" She asks.

"Good." Cat states.

"Gettin' work done." I add. I notice she's carrying some bags.

"That's good. Still stuck?" She inquires, and Cat and I tug at our hands. They don't budge.

"Still stuck." I note.

"Oh, good." Mom smiles. Good?

"Good?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Yes. Good. Otherwise my last minute shopping spree will have gone to waste!" Mom proclaims as she dumps a bunch of shirts on my bed. "Tube tops! And some other sleeveless numbers. I figured you could just put them on leg first."

"Oh. Yeah, that'll work. Thanks, mom." I sigh. Tube tops aren't really my style, but Cat can pull them off. Oh well. I guess it'll have to do.

"Yes, thanks Mrs. Vega." Cat giddily picks up a flowery number.

"And Cat, I grabbed a bunch of overnight stuff from your place like you asked. Your roommate didn't seem to mind. She was just sitting on the couch, laughing like a maniac…" My mom recalls. "And then there's this." Mom holds out some scissors tentatively. "They're special scissors for fabrics."

"Greeeat." I groan, taking the scissors. I give my shirt a sad look. At least it's not my favourite shirt, but it doesn't deserve to be cut off!

My mom puts her hands on her hips. "I guess it's a good thing you're not dating. Otherwise, I'd feel pretty awkward giving you two something to cut your clothes off." She laughs.

"Mom. Please." I grumble.

"Alright, alright. I'll get out of your hair. Haller if you need anything." My mom waves as she leaves. Cat looks at me.

"It almost seems like your parents want us to date." Cat tilts her head.

"Once they get an idea in their head, they stick to it. I guess catching us together in Trina's room gave them that idea." I sigh.

"Yeah… I guess we did kind of… you know… look caught up in the moment." Cat mumbles, looking down.

"Uh, yeah, I suppose dancing monkeys can do that." I point out, searching her. Maybe she's trying to hint that she felt something while on that bed… maybe I'm not the only one who was thinking of stealing a kiss…

Her head snaps up to me. "Do you take a shower in the morning?" She asks suddenly.

"What? Yes." I confirm. Ugh, showers… another thing I'm dreading. At least we have a whole night before we have to worry about how that's going to work.

"Okay. Well… I'm used to showering at night." Cat admits. And I freeze.

"Ohh… So… you want to shower… now?" I ask, trying to keep my heart rate low. I guess we'll have to figure out how it's going to work sooner than I thought.

"Yep. I mean, if that's okay. I'd rather not be smelly and… stuff. We've already done some uncomfortable things in front of each other so… why not?" Cat sighs. I feel my mouth go dry.

"O-okay… So… how is it going down? Are we going to… you know…" I say slowly, and Cat gives me a questioning look. I swallow hard. "Shower together?"

Cat's eyes widen like orbs. "Oh, no! I don't think we have to go _that_ far. I was thinking that the one taking the shower would stand in the shower, with the other person standing outside. It might be uncomfortable for our arms, but it's more comfortable than… you know." She shifts slightly.

"Showering together." I breathe out. She thought this through, unlike me. Thank god.

"Exactly." Cat nods, a faint blush on her face. Some boundaries should just not be crossed in friendships. I'm sure any couple of friends would be terrified at the concept. Can you imagine? Just… me and her in the shower, helping her out by lathering up the soap and-

**Nope nope nope nope nope nope**

"Great idea!" I exclaim. "That'll work. Your plan will work."

"Yeah, but you know…. Are you okay with this? I mean like I said I don't want to be smelly but if it's too weird…" Cat trails off.

"Wh-why would it be weird? We're best friends. I won't even see you. It's fine." I rush out, and she smiles.

"Okay, good. I don't want to affect our friendship." Cat says seriously. Sigh. Me neither.

"It's just a shower. Happens every day." I state, pulling her up. "I guess we'll wear tube tops to bed." I observe, taking two of them. We both grab some shorts to sleep in as well, and then slowly we make our way to the bathroom. Longest trip to the bathroom I've ever made.

It's just a shower.

"Ready to get your shirt cut off?" I ask.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Cat mumble. "Be careful."

"I will. Don't worry." I assure her.

"Okay, I trust you." Cat sighs. I start at the bottom of her shirt and start cutting up to her sleeve. She lets out a whimper, and I know I will when she cuts my shirt off… oh god.

"There. All done. Sorry." I mutter. Cat starts squirming out of it with my help.

"It's okay, had to be done." Cat frowns and the mutilated shirt falls to the ground. I look up at her and see her in just a bra. Her… her skin is so… and her shoulders and… stomach and…

Tori, get your chiz together.

"Uh, I guess I'll have to… cut that off too." I blush. Cat's eyes widen again.

"Oh god, no. It's the kind where the straps are attachable. I just need you to unclip me." Cat explains, and I let out a sigh of relief as I remembered I had the same style of bra on. Thank god. Bras are expensive.

"Okay, um. Turn around." I mutter, and Cat does so. I take her straps off, and my hand trembles a bit as she reaches her one hand to mine at her clasp.

The bra pops open and immediately Cat slaps her arm over her chest. Thank _god_ she remembered to use her left arm this time. My eyes are met with her bare back for a split second before I turn my head away.

"Are you looking?" Cat whispers.

"No." I assure her. Huh. I do have nice wallpaper in my bathroom.

"I'll try not to take too long." Cat assures me as she shuffles around a bit. Don't think about it. Tori. Just focus on the pretty wallpaper.

"Uh huh." I breathe. I'm suddenly being led over to the shower, and I hear the curtain open and close. The water turns on, and Cat lets out a yelp. "What?!" I nearly turn my head to the shower, but I stop myself.

"N-nothing. Just, I usually give the water some time to warm up before I get in it but you're kind of attached to me, so…" Cat shivers.

"You okay?" I inquire.

"Yeah. It's nice now." Cat states, and I'm tugged a little closer. Great. Now my arm is wet.

Cat starts singing a song, which sounds gorgeous with the acoustics of the shower. I just focus on her pretty voice and the pretty wallpaper.

And her pretty back.

Wait why am I seeing her back?!

I realize if I look in the bathroom mirror, the angle shows the reflection of the shower, and the small slit of the curtain being opened by our arms. I can see Cat's back through it, her hair dripping as she combs shampoo through it, the suds slowly cascading down her smooth back…

I should probably look away, but I'm mesmerized. My eyes are glued to her form just as much as our hands are glued together. It's the kind of back I want to run my hand over, the kind of shoulders I want to press my lips to… it sends shivers across my body even though I feel really warm.

No, this is definitely not the reaction a friend should have when seeing another friend's back. Am I just… a pervert and never knew it? Because I've never, _ever_ felt so… affected like this before. For anyone. Maybe it's just Cat… Why am I lusting after Cat? I don't want to lust after Cat. This… this isn't good.

And yet I continue to watch her back until the water turns off, and I finally tear my eyes before she turns around. I don't want to see her like that if she doesn't want me to.

"Tori, could you pass me the towel?" Cat requests.

"Uh huh." I mutter, grabbing the towel off the rack and handing it behind me. It's taken out of my hand and I'm tugged around a bit as she dries herself off. I'm limp as a ragdoll with the lasting image of Cat's wet back in my mind.

It's just a shower.

It's just a back.

It's just Cat.

We're just friends.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Cat asks.

"Nuh uh." I reply. Cat drags me over to where her change of clothes are, and I'm shifted around again as she struggled to get them on. Good. The sooner she's dressed, the better.

"My arm's a little sore, though. We'll have to find a better position." Cat suggests.

"Uh huh." I breathe. Cat, please don't talk about different positions right now.

"There, all done. You can look at me now." Cat announces. My head slowly turns to her, my lips firmly pressed together. She's the same old Cat. But now, my heart goes haywire when I see her. And ugh those bare shoulders in that tube top still look so kissable… "Guess we better cut you out of your shirt now."

"Uh huh."

"Are you ready?"

"Uh huh."

"Um… Okay…" Cat gives me a questioning look before grabbing the scissors. "Just relax. I'll be as careful as you were." She assures me.

"Uh huh." I gulp.

"Aren't you talkative." Cat notes, cutting up to my sleeve.

"I'm just tired." I lie.

"Well as soon as this is off you can get into your PJ's and we can get some sleep." Cat states.

"Actually, I think I'll try showering tonight, too." I claim. "It'll… save time in the morning."

"Okay, whatever you want." Cat smiles. As soon as my shirt is off, and she helps me with my bra and she's safely turned around, I rip my jeans off and hop into the shower.

I make sure the water doesn't warm up at all.

One cold shower later, and I'm safely in my tube top PJs. We brush our teeth, dry our hair, head back to my room and lay down.

"This was a long day. It'll be nice to get some sleep." Cat sighs.

"Yeah…" I sigh.

"Um, I shift a lot in my sleep so if I hurt your arm or anything, don't be afraid to wake me up." She states.

"Yeah. Same to you for me." I nod.

She turns on her side. "I know you already forgave me but… I wanted to say sorry again for getting us into this mess." Cat frowns.

"It's okay, Cat." I mumble.

"And… thank you for being understanding and not shutting me out despite me being… you know… me." Cat mutters.

"I like you being you." I say gently. She smiles brightly.

"I know you do. Even if I get on your nerves sometimes… I know I've always got a good friend in you. I feel like anyone else would've ripped my head off my now." Cat ponders. I turn my head to stare at her. I'm used to Cat being blissfully unaffected by how people view her, but it sounds like she knows people are overwhelmed by her. And she seems self-conscious about that. Maybe she always has been and she's just opened up about it to me. She hasn't even been that bad… She's a little eccentric, yes, but I don't want to rip her head off…

"Cat…" I sigh, not sure what to say.

"Goodnight, Tori." Cat coos, quickly kissing my cheek. That definitely got my heart racing.

I watch her silently as she closes her eyes and snuggles into her pillow. She gives my hand, lying between us, an affectionate squeeze before focusing on sleeping. All I can focus on right now is her.

I can't help but wonder how much I'd love to really learn more about how she thinks, and talk about it with her. Since being attached to her, I get the feeling she doesn't really express how she truly feels about things… and I'd love to share in that with her. Be her confidant.

I was wrong… I'm not lusting after Cat.

I want to take her out. Hang out with her. Hear her laugh. Hear her thoughts and dreams. Hold her hand because we want to hold hands. Touch her back and kiss her shoulder because it'd make her feel good, not just me. And her feeling good would make me feel good. And I want to kiss her, not because she's attractive. But because she's Cat. It's beyond friendship.

I have a full blown crush on Cat Valentine.

* * *

**Author's Notes: About time, Tori. Gawd. Also, I've discovered while writing this that bathrooms are not good places to be in when you're glued to someone. That seems to be where all the embarrassment goes down. Whatever, they know they both secretly enjoyed it. They may have been getting clean, but they sure weren't having "clean" thoughts. Ugh, the bad jokes are back.**

**So hey, how ya doing? Tell me about how you feel. Your hopes and dreams. Let's go on a FanFiction date through reviews. Everyone who does gets mental flowers, or mental chocolates... actually, you all get mental pizza. Even people who don't review. I'm feeling generous. Mental pizza for all.**

**Fun Fact: That thing about the enzymes is like, one of the only things I remember from grade 11 science. I only remember it because on the day we learned it, I had a 103 fever and I had no idea, and when the teacher talked about fevers I was like, "OH. Thaaat's why I feel so shitty!" ...I had to be rushed to emergency later that day. Thanks, science class. **


	5. Oxytocin

**Disclaimer: Let me tell you something, Balto. A FanFiction writer can not own Victorious alone. But, maybe a Dan Schneider can. _INSPIRATIONAL EMOTIONAL HOWL TO THE HEAVENS._**

* * *

Well that was a long night.

I think I got some sleep but it was just here and there… most of the night was spent feeling restless and confused and also worried but also confused…

And mostly restless.

I'm not thinking straight…

That's the understatement of the century.

It's an added bonus that Cat's been sleeping peacefully all night and… god she looks so cute when she's asleep. She's still sleeping, actually. Still peaceful. Ugh, I wish I was in her state right now. Not a care in the world… not worrying about the crush she has on her best friend. I should be so lucky.

It's not that I'm upset about it… Cat's an amazing person. Why wouldn't I be stoked at the idea of being in a relationship with her? And I am… but this is so sudden and… I don't even know if she likes me that way. And I don't want to ruin our friendship if she doesn't…

Look, I'm not trying to be filled with teenage angst about my crush here. It's just, it'd probably be a lot less complicated if I wasn't glued to the said crush. What if I told her and she did reject me? I'd need a little time to heal and I won't be able to when I'm constantly holding her hand… plus she'd feel weird about it. So, how do I continue like this, with her causing me butterflies every time she exhales? Every time she leans in close or smiles at me… I don't have any time to cool down in between. So, now I have to hide my feelings from someone I'm attached to at the hand, and if I can't…

Why, Tori? Why'd you have to fall for her now?

Then again there's always the chance that my mind's just playing a trick on me because we've been physically so close for a while… You know, due to that cuddle hormone that makes you feel content? And then if I tell her and she returns my feelings and as soon as we're free, I discover the crush was only temporary… _oh god_.

"Tori?" Cat's urgent voice reaches me. I nearly jump three feet in the air.

"Wh-what?!" I gasp, sitting up and turning to her. Her face is etched with concern.

"I woke up and you were breathing heavy and were all sweaty…" Cat observes. I reach up and touch my forehead, flushing at the dampness I find there. "And then you looked really scared… were you having a nightmare? …With your eyes open…"

"No, I um… I didn't get a lot of sleep. I guess I'm just stressed about a lot of things." I admit. She sits up, lightly wiping her eyes.

"Like what kind of things?" She inquires. Oh dear… I hate to lie but now's not really the time to be confessing my feelings…

"You know, things like… mid-terms next week." I state. Hey, it's not a complete lie. I am worried about those.

She nods slightly. "Anything else?" She urges further. "You don't have to tell me anything, but if you want, just talking about it out loud can help with stress. I do it all the time!" Cat suggests. Huh, I guess that's why she doesn't seem to have a filter very often. I take a deep breath.

"I guess I'm also worried about Trina and how she's doing at college… I got the feeling on the phone that it's not going as well as she thinks it is." I explain. She continues looking at me patiently, eyes searching… waiting for me to say more. "Um… And rehearsals for the play start today. I'm concerned about that… and graduation and where I'll be after it happens. Also it's not fun not having my driver's license yet." Huh, guess I had more on my mind then I thought.

Again, she sits patiently watching me, as if she's waiting for me to say more. As if she knows I'm not telling her everything. When I don't say anything else, she ends the unofficial staring contest. "No wonder you were up all night." She comments.

"Yeah…" I sigh. I could've been up all night thinking about any of that stuff, but I wasn't. I was thinking about her. She tilts her head to the side and squeezes my hand, making my eyes snap to our still-glued hands. Her hand feels so natural in mine now...

"Worried about our hands, too?" Cat questions. I slowly find her eyes. She has no idea.

"Yeah. To be honest, Cat, I don't know what's going to happen." I mutter.

"Me neither. But it could be worse. I could've caught your leg with my hand. Sam's hand was glued to my leg once. The glue wasn't as strong as this, but it still wasn't fun in the meantime." Cat recalls, and I can't help but smile.

"Yes, I'm glad you grabbed my hand. Thank you." I chuckle, and she grins.

"As for all that other stuff… I can't help much with words but… you know that nice chemical that releases in your brain at human contact?" Cat asks, and I eye her suspiciously.

"Uh huh…" I say slowly, and her grin widens as she pushes our arms between us and literally flops on top of me. I let out an "oof" and my body fills up with warmth.

"Feeling better now?" Cat murmurs. I have to clear my throat before I answer.

"Y-yeah." I stutter out. Much better in many places, not better in others…

"Mm. Good." Cat coos, snuggling into me. This… feels really nice. I could get used to this.

Without really thinking about it, I reach up my free hand and comb through her silky hair. She lets out a purr at the contact. A _purr_. She freakin' _purred_. And it was beautiful.

A knock at my door snaps me out of my awe of Cat's purr.

"Girls? Are you up?" My mom's voice leaks through the door.

"More or less." I call out. Cat doesn't move from her position.

"Okay, well get ready and come down for breakfast, then I'll drive you both to school." Mom proclaims. "Still stuck together?"

"Sure are." I confirm.

"Well I guess it's not the kind of thing you can sleep off. See you downstairs." She sighs.

"Thanks, mom." I mumble.

"Thank you, Mrs. Vega." Cat also mumbles, her voice muffled against my shoulder. Again, she doesn't move.

"So, guess we better help each other get ready." I comment.

"Mhm." Cat sighs. We don't budge.

"Cat."

"Yes, Tor?"

I take a deep breath. I'm going to regret this. "You have to get off me if we're going to get ready."

"Oh!" Cat exclaims, jumping off me. Unfortunately she jumped off the side of the bed, and I feel my arm yanked as the bed leaves my back and I flip right onto the floor.

Ouch. I need to look into getting a fluffy carpet for my floor.

"Ughhh…" I groan.

"Oh my gosh, Tori! I'm so sorry! I… are you alright?" Cat asks frantically.

"Nrrfffnn." I grimace. Great. Cat's either going to kill me emotionally or physically.

"Oh chiz… what can I do to make it better?" Cat demands.

"Move your hand… down here…" I choke out.

"Oh. Oh! Of course!" Cat complies, finally realizing that me on the floor and her standing kept my arm in a really painful position. She kneels down next to me, and I feel instantly better as the pressure on my arm is alleviated, and as she returns the favour from before as I feel her fingers comb over my scalp. "I guess we're still not completely used to this."

"We have plenty of time to get the hang of it." I mutter. I'm surprised I'm containing my temper like I promised her. In the past, I probably would've snapped at her. Maybe it's just because of my crush… I mean, her attempt at helping is really cute.

"Need help up?" Cat questions.

"Yes please." I groan. Cat quickly rolls me to my side and hooks her free arm under me, helping push me up, and she keeps the support there even after I'm up as if she's making sure I won't fall again. See. Cute.

"Oops." Cat stares at my face and my eyes widen.

"What?"

"Nothing, just…" Cat runs two fingers down my face. "The creases from your hardwood floor are kind of imprinted on your face." She admits.

"Seriously? Oh, perfect." I huff. Now I'm a little angry.

"Sorry!" Cat expresses, and she leans up to kiss my cheek, presumably where a mark is. Never mind about that anger.

"It's fine, they'll fade. Just be more careful." I smile, and she nods. "Come on, let's get ready."

We're a little sloppy when changing clothes, mostly because putting on clothes would be a lot easier if we were just able to look at each other. I don't think we're there quite there yet. On the bright side, going to the bathroom was much less traumatic this time around for both of us. Still awkward as chiz, but we've already passed this hurdle once, and it's not like we can avoid it.

Thankfully, I'm pretty sure the creases on my face had faded by the time we made it downstairs, since neither of my parents made a comment about them.

"Hey, how'd you sleep?" My dad asks as he looks up from his morning paper.

"Pretty good. No issues." I state. Cat gives me a questioning look, but luckily she doesn't say anything. My parents don't need to worry about me having a restless night.

"Yep! Slept like a baby." Cat agrees, and I smile at her.

"Good, we were worried you'd both wake up with broken arms or something." Mom chuckles. "I made French toast. Come have some and then I'll take you both to school."

"Yay, French toast!" Cat cheers, yanking me as she skips to the kitchen. I notice my dad giving me a strange look.

"What?" I question. He leans forward something.

"Tori… what's that on your face?" He asks, and both Cat's and my eyes widen.

Aw, chiz.

Luckily, the marks REALLY disappear by the time we get to school. I know, I checked the side mirror of my mom's car four times.

"So, day two." I sigh.

"Uh huh. TGIF." Cat proclaims.

"Never before has that acronym held so much meaning." I shake my head, and she chuckles. We head through the doors, and immediately people around the hallway stop to look at us. Some of them shove each other and point, laughing to themselves a bit. "Great." I groan. Word has spread.

"Hey, you two." Two guys walk over to us. "Guess who we are?" They conjoin hands and start tugging their arms, as if they're glued together. They start laughing, and I fix my eyes into a glare.

"Haha! That's funny! Look, Tor, they're being us!" Cat laughs. The two guys stop and immediately give her a bewildered look. "Ooh, do another one. What else can you imitate?"

"Uh… nothing…" They look between each other. Cat gets a sympathetic look on her face, reaching out her free hand to pat one of them on the shoulder.

"Aww, don't worry! Keep practicing and I'm sure you'll be able to do more impressions! The first one was really good." Cat encourages enthusiastically.

"Yeah… Whatever." They two guys shrug and stalk off, their joke having fallen flat. Cat pulls my hand to her stomach, watching them thoughtfully.

"They were trying to be jerks, weren't they?" Cat questions. Oh, so she wasn't oblivious.

"Yes, yes they were." I confirm.

"Thought so. They looked pretty put down when I praised them. Oh well. C'mon, Tori! Let's get ready for class." Cat smiles, pulling me to my locker.

God, she's… wonderful. And also I was right about my assumption… she is aware of how people make fun of her. But she still lets it roll right off her, and I like her style. Kill them with kindness. But I still get the feeling it hurts her more than she lets on.

This is a pro to being glued to Cat. I'm learning things about her that I never knew before, things that give her more depth than I even imagined. And it's making me fall for her more… I don't know if that's a pro or con yet.

When we walked into our first class, our seats were already pushed together by the teacher from the news of our predicament spreading around the school. Another pro for us. First class was relaxed – mid-term prep. Then we head to our second class, where this all went down in the first place…

"Ah! Cat, Tori. Still joined by the eternal bondage of the industrial adhesive, I see." Sikowitz comments as we walk in. We both blush and he raises an eyebrow. "Unless this is by choice now…"

"Uhh, no." I sigh.

"Grizzly Glue is still making that choice for us." Cat explains.

"Very well. Good thing you're partners for this project. I'd like to see _more_ than one cloud this class, maybe?" He requests.

"Yes, Sikowitz." Cat nods.

"Excellent. Off to work everyone!" Sikowitz claps his hands. Everybody shuffles off to their work stations. I catch Andre's eye and he waves to us as he heads to the sound booth. Robbie gives us a smile and wave as he walks by, too. I guess he already bounced back from Cat's rejection yesterday. Jade doesn't look at us, shockingly. I thought she'd for sure make some more comments.

"Just to let you know, we are _not_ using Grizzly Glue for the rest of the clouds." I state adamantly.

"I think that's for the best." Cat agrees. "The last thing we need is other body parts getting stuck together."

Um… Er… Um… Uh…

"Your eyes just glazed over." Cat observes, and I quickly shake it off.

"You know how tired I am. Let's go cut out more clouds… hopefully we can make this work with one hand between us." I rush out. It's already happening. I'm already being obvious. Ugh.

This time, we communicate fully. We kind of have to. I mean, we're working with a wood saw… if one of us messes up while stuck like this, we might not need to go to a hospital to remove us…

"Careful." I warn. "Move it a bit more my way."

"Kay, kay." Cat nods. We're already halfway our second cloud of the day.

"Good. That's good." I state. "I think that curve needs to be shaved off a bit."

"No way, I like it like that. It makes it different from the others." Cat claims. "When in nature do you see clouds that all look the same? Their different shapes are what make them so fun to look at!"

I look down at our workbook to see the perfect cloud cut out it describes. As if there's a perfect cloud… Cat's right. It wouldn't be an interesting set if all the clouds looked the same. The world needs more people like Cat… People who look beyond the confines of what is considered normal. She makes life more interesting… she makes my life more interesting.

"Alright, I agree. Let's finish this and work on the next cloud." I grin.

"Yay!" Cat cheers. I don't care if we lose marks… her smile is worth it.

"Yes, please make the clouds fun to look at. It's not like Vega's performance will be very impressive, so something has to save the play." I hear Jade's voice drawl from behind us. I'm yanked quickly to the side as Cat whips around.

"Jade! Tori will be amazing in the play!" Cat stomps her foot for effect. Jade rolls her eyes, handing Cat her phone and earbuds.

"Here, Cat. Listen to music." Jade orders. Cat looks at the phone questioningly, then back up at Jade.

"What? Why?" Cat questions.

"Just _do it_!" Jade snaps. Cat squeaks and fumbles to quickly place the earbuds in her ears. She pouts a bit once they're in. I raise my eyebrow at Jade.

"You ever get tired of bossing her around?" I huff. Jade crosses her arms, a small smirk on her face.

"Nope." Jade puts emphasis at the end of the word, making her lips cause a popping sound. I roll my eyes slightly. But Jade wouldn't come over here to get some sick pleasure from forcing Cat to listen to music. No, there's always a method to her madness.

"So why the music?" I interrogate.

"Wanted to talk to you about something privately, and thanks to your predicament I can't really do that. Hence, loud music for the crazy child attached to you." Jade explains.

"You wanted to talk to me? Aww, I'm touched." I tease. She rolls her eyes.

"Don't let it get to your head. I just need to address some things with you. Because if I don't, my head would explode." Jade grumbles. I want to make a comment about how much I'd like that, but I'm curious about what she has to say and I don't want to make her walk away.

"Address away." I urge. Jade gives me a pointed look, the expression on her face almost bored.

"You like Cat." She states.

Aw, chiz. I knew I was being obvious. I knew it.

"Yes, I do." I sigh. She raises her bejeweled eyebrow.

"I mean as more then friends." She clarifies.

"Yes, I know." I mumble. Jade gives me a genuinely perplexed look.

"Wow. You admitted that faster than I thought." Jade comments. I give a shrug.

"What's the point? You'd just beat it out of me anyway so I might as well just say it." I mutter.

"True." Jade nods.

"So yes, I have a crush on Cat. What's your point?" I question. I feel movement to the side and I watch Cat take the earbuds out of her ears. She looks terrified.

Oh god, please don't tell me there wasn't any music on. Was that Jade sadistic plan all along? She's ruined everything! What am I going to say? What am I going to do? Why does she look so scared?

"Um, Jade," Cat starts slowly. "I've been trying to listen to this music but… All I'm hearing is… children screaming?" Cat questions. Jade snatches her phone back.

"Oops. That's a personal playlist." Jade mutters, fiddling with her phone. Cat and I stare at her. Well, at least Cat didn't really hear us. "Here." Jade affirms. Cat places the earbuds back in her ears and her eyes light up. From what I can hear, it sounds like a very up-beat poppy song.

"Ooh! I love this song!" Cat exclaims.

"Of course you do." Jade scoffs, shoving her phone back into Cat's hand. "And my point, Vega, is that I hate it. It's driving me crazy."

"My crush on Cat is driving you crazy?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Yes! Sort of." Jade sighs. "It's driving me crazy because I need to know what you're going to do about it."

"And why are you suddenly invested in my life?" I ask.

"Because… I have this problem where… I'm magnetically drawn to train wrecks waiting to happen. I like to know what's happening on the train." Jade explains.

"You know, my personal life isn't your personal source of entertainment." I glare. She smirks a little.

"It is now." She states. "Look. I'm actually trying to help. Don't question why, just accept it. Tell me what you're going to do."

I'm not really in a position to argue. I mean… Jade knows my feelings about Cat. She could easily rip those earbuds out of Cat's ears and tell her if I happen to get on her bad side…

"Well, nothing." I shrug.

"Nothing. You have a crush on the girl you're glued to and you're going to do… nothing." Jade stares at me like I'm a dog that just accidentally ran into a glass door.

"Well what would you do?" I huff.

"Tell her!"

"Really. You would tell her."

"Hey, why not? She can't run away like she always does to Robbie. Seems like a perfect time to talk things out."

Huh… she has a point.

"I don't know. This is all new to me… I didn't even realize my feelings until last night. I don't even know how long these feelings have been buried deep inside me or… if they're even there." I mutter, finding the ground with my eyes.

"Oh. They're there." Jade scoffs. My head snaps to her. I feel a little anger stir up in the pit of my stomach. Stupid arrogant Jade, always thinking she knows everything.

"And how would you know?" I glare. Jade tilts her head, a slightly grimace on her face.

"Because nothing seems more revolting to me than the way you look at her. And that's always been there, but since yesterday it's been even more... frequently revolting." Jade shudders. "Beck used to look at me like how you look at her. I trained him not to do that." She glares off to the side.

"You have a strange relation to affection." I comment. Seriously. It's terrifying.

"Hey, I show my affection in my own way." Jade sighs, looking thoughtful and subtly patting her pocket with her scissors in them. See. Terrifying. "Anyway. You definitely like Cat, and you should tell her."

"Alright oh great observer of romantic feelings, if you know so much, how does Cat feel?" I question. Jade looks long and hard at Cat, who is smiling and bobbing her head obliviously to whatever song is currently on.

"Cat's a little harder to tell. She always have that spaced out look in her eyes, and she surprisingly puts so many barriers up it's difficult to get though." Jade notes. Huh. So Jade noticed that about Cat, too.

"So you don't know?"

"Of course I do. Who do you think you're talking to?"

"Great. So tell me."

Jade thinks for a minute before a sadistic smile spreads over her face. "Nah. That'd be too easy. You'll just have to find out yourself when you tell her."

"And if she doesn't reciprocate?"

"Then she doesn't reciprocate. Deal with it."

"I'm _glued to her_."

"Ah, yes, the train wreck." Jade grins. "Good talk, Vega." Jade rips the phone and earbuds from Cat.

"Hey!" Cat protests, but Jade saunters away. A pout returns to Cat's face. "Aww…"

"Wait, Jade wait!" I call out, but Jade ignores me. Typical. Now I feel even more confused than before. But… she did convince me about one thing. What I feel for Cat… It doesn't matter how or why it happened… but it definitely happened, and it's real.

"Tori? What was that all about? What did you and Jade talk about?" Cat questions. She looks worried.

"She was just… giving me tips. I think." I sigh.

"About what? Acting?" Cat questions.

"Yeah…" I breathe. I'm acting around you right now.

"Are you going to take her advice?" Cat wonders. I bite my lip.

"Probably not. You know Jade. She's probably secretly trying to sabotage me." I mutter. I have to wait. I can't risk the awkward time if she rejects me and we're glued together. It won't go well for either of us. A train wreck, like Jade called it. I mean… yes, there's an off chance Cat might like me, too. But starting a relationship when your hands are forced to be glued together isn't the greatest start.

Yeah… I'll tell Cat. I will. But after we're unstuck. If she wants to run away… I want to at least give her that choice. It wouldn't be fair otherwise.

"Okay." Cat nods slowly. She's looking at me like she did this morning, like she knows I'm not telling everything. And again, she doesn't press any further. Thank god.

We continue to work on the clouds, and since we don't focus on getting them perfect, we finish a good set of clouds in record time, painted white and everything.

"So, how is it that you two are able to actually get more work done when you're glued to one another?" Sikowitz asks at the end of class.

"Um… two minds are better than one?" I suggest, and Cat giggles.

"Ah, yes… very true…" Sikowitz ponders. "But why are the clouds odd shapes? And they don't all look the same…"

Here go our marks.

"Well… it's because clouds are all different. They're not the same. Me and Tori… thought it'd be better this way." Cat bites her lip, looking concerned. Maybe she's worried she messed up again.

"Right you are! Way to think outside of the box. Bonus marks!" Sikowitz exclaims, and I let out a sigh of relief. Cat and I smile at each other. Sometimes her way of thinking succeeds in the best ways. The bell rings overhead. "Alright, everybody out. My daily burrito calls my name."

"There's lunch." I note. "Ready for our first rehearsal?"

"Yep!" Cat beams. We had our first rehearsal for the play today. We were just going to gather in an empty classroom during lunch and read through our parts to start. "Want to go together?"

"Uh…" I start to question, but then I notice Cat's mischievous smile. I smile, too. "Cheeky."

Luckily my mom made us both lunch this morning so we wouldn't have to skip lunch today, and then we headed off to the classroom.

"Alright, cast. Welcome to the first rehearsal. I assume everyone here knows everyone so we'll skip that name game stuff… here are your scripts. We'll start from page one, obviously… We have a lot of pages to cover, so let's keep up the pace, people. I'll give out first notes where I see fit. And… begin!" The director orders.

It seems like an interesting play… kind of a crime tragedy. Cat plays my daughter on it. There's a large stretch of the play where she doesn't have lines, so I catch her skipping ahead. Just before we reach our scene together, I see her gape at the pages and her hand shoots into the air. Her left hand, thankfully. She's learning!

"Yes, Miss. Valentine?" The director sighs.

"Why does my character die in every play I'm in?" Cat argues. The director gives a shrug.

"You're expendable." He states. Cat's jaw pops open.

"Hey!" Cat pouts, her lip quivering. Aww… that wasn't nice to say. Cat's anything but expendable… I don't want her feeling sad… I know by now she's aware of the hurtful comments people make about her.

"What… he means to say, Cat… is that you play a very empathetic caricature… so that when you have a character that dies, it invokes the most emotion out of the audience. It's a very valuable skill and quality to have. Right, Mr. Director?" I give him an expectant look.

"Uh… yeah." He scratches his head. Cat's trembling lip curves into a smile.

"Oh! Okay!" Cat exclaims. She looks over at me and squeezes my hand tightly. So much blushing.

"Alright… Cat, Tori, your scene is next. Blow me away." The director barks. I look down at the script. Dark living room. Candles around the set. Our characters sit on the couch, holding hands. How fitting.

"When do you think the power will come back on?" Cat asks me.

"I don't know, baby girl. Just listen to the sound of the rain. It'll be okay." I retort.

"I don't like the dark. Or the rain. It's scary." Cat whimpers.

"Why's it so scary, baby girl?" I question.

"Because… It reminds me of him." Cat sniffs. She really gets into character.

"Your father?" I ask.

"Yes. Back when he used to lock me up in the bathroom at night when he'd have his friends over…" Cat trails off.

"You know if I had known about that…" I start.

"I know. I know." Cat sighs. "Their laughs were so scary. And the things they talked about… the people they beat up, the things they sold… I tried to focus on the sound of the water running through the pipes. Now… even the sound of running water reminds me of those nights."

"I'm so sorry. I wish I could take it all back." I mumble.

"Those people aren't his friends anymore, are they?" Cat questions.

"No, they aren't." I confirm.

"Daddy messed up real bad and now he's trying to settle his debts by selling me to them…"

"Baby girl, you know I would _never_ let that happen." I state.

"But-" Cat starts, her voice wracked with emotion.

"No buts. I won't let it happen. I _promise_. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe from him and anyone else who may harm you. You're the most important person in the world to me. I won't let you go without a fight." I promise.

"Okay… I trust you. I love you so much." Cat sighs.

"I love you too, baby girl. I love you too." I finish. The stage directions read that next the lights come up, and there's a moment of joy on Cat's character's face at the light before men with guns burst through the door to take her.

"Um… good, guys. That was good. You two had a really deep connection." The director states.

"But…?" I question, seeing where this is going.

"But… I wasn't getting a mother-daughter vibe from you two. Just the way your voices were set… I don't know, it seemed more like… ah…" He tries to find the right words.

"Like girlfriends." Someone else in the cast suggests. The director snaps his fingers.

"Exactly! Like girlfriends. Especially the I love you's at the end." The director nods.

"What? How can you _sound_ like girlfriends?" I scoff.

"I'm not sure, but you two somehow made it sound more like a romantic tragedy than a family tragedy." He explains, and the cast nods in agreement.

"Yo, I almost ship you two now." Another member of the cast pipes up.

"Ugh, alright! We'll work on it." I groan.

"No more girlfriend vibes. Got it." Cat agrees with a faint blush on her face.

"And is this… hand thing going to still be a problem next week?" He asks.

"No sir. At least we hope not." I confirm.

"Good." He nods. We continue with the rest of the script until the bell rings, and the director leaves us with orders to read the rest of it over the weekend on our own time.

"Did I do something wrong again? I feel like it's my fault." Cat mumbles as we leave. I give her a questioning look.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the… girlfriends thing." Cat shifts uncomfortably.

"Cat… I don't think you did anything wrong. You seemed perfectly fine in that scene. I have no idea what the director was talking about." I scoff. Seriously, I'm not _that_ obvious. Am I? Maybe I am and… if that's true, I definitely don't want Cat taking blame.

"But the rest of the cast seemed to agree." Cat sighs.

"Maybe they were just sucking up to the director. I don't know. We'll just try to tone it down a bit next time." I suggest. That's right, Vega. Tone it down…

"Okay, sure. Maybe we can work on it tonight." Cat says, the smile returning to her face. Oh good, I get to have an emotional scene where I seem to express my crush with her over and over again. Great.

"Yeah… That'll be good." I mumble. Or hell.

The rest of the day was also mid-term prep. Except history. Apparently we also have to do our presentation next week as well as the midterm. That Ms. Hawkins is a gank. She might be gankier than Jade. Gankier? Is that a word? It is now.

My mom picked us up after school, but she left pretty quickly once we got home.

"Mom? Where are you going?" I ask.

"To buy a wheelbarrow. We're actually going to need to clean out Trina's room tonight." Mom scoffs. I give a shudder. I forgot we were doing that.

"Right. Good idea." I sigh.

"If you two go out, don't stay out too late. Don't you dare leave me and your father with all the cleaning." Mom warns.

"Wouldn't think of it, Mrs. Vega." Cat assures her. Well, I thought of it a little. She smiles at us as she leaves.

"So, what do you want to do?" I question. Cat thinks for a moment.

"Well, we do have a lot of school work to do…" Cat mutters.

"Pshh, it's Friday night. Forget school." I wave my hand. Usually I'd be the first person to agree to getting homework done early, but this time tomorrow I might not be stuck to Cat anymore. Before she knows my feelings. I want to savour this time with her, and I don't want to spend it studying.

"Okay! Um… how about Nozu's or Karaoke Dokie?" Cat suggests.

"Yeah, I'll text Andre and see if him and the gang want to go." I state. I shoot Andre a text. I get a reply almost immediately.

_Sorry, Tor. Maybe later. My grandma thought the fridge was the front door and well… now I'm trying to get her out. Wish me luck._

"I think Andre is a no-go." I comment.

"Okay, I'll text Sam and see if she wants to go to Bots or Punchy's Gym." Cat claims, texting Sam. "If she's stopped laughing."

Sam doesn't reply as fast as Andre, so we sit on the couch while we wait for her reply. Cat snuggles up to me immediately, and I feel my face heat up. Her body feels like… heaven. I can feel my heart rate speed up, and my palms start to sweat… I hope she doesn't notice. I wish above all else that I could snuggle back… just, hold her against me and nuzzle our cheeks together, breathe in the scent of her hair… comb my fingers over her bare shoulders… But that would be far too telling, and I don't know how much self-control I have around her right now. I mean she's so… she's just so. You know? I… I can't explain it. She makes my mind jumbled in good ways.

So I stay stiff as board as her head cuddles on my shoulder. I struggle to swallow, attempting at getting rid of the lump in my throat and trying to swallow back my feelings.

"How long does it take for Sam to answer?" I question.

"Not long usually. She's a very fast texter. But she also might be running from the cops, so it could be awhile." Cat shrugs.

"Oh." I blink. What kind of person is this Sam? "Guess we better watch TV while we wait, then." I comply, grabbing the remote. As soon as I turn on the TV, a familiar movie comes up. Titanic.

It's at the very end, and Jack and Rose are in the water. There's that plank of wood that _clearly_ has enough room on it for both of them, but instead Rose just lets Jack slip away, even though she promised him she wouldn't. She apparently was so smitten with him, and yet she couldn't scoot over a bit to pull the man up on that plank with her.

Cat didn't let me go. I mean sure, she had Grizzly Glue to help… but I really believed her promise. She wouldn't have let me go, even without the glue. I couldn't ever picture her letting me go… she's always there for me. Always. And that's just as a friend. I… I don't know what I'd do without her.

I have to tell her. Not… everything… but I have to tell her something.

I flick off the TV. "Oh thank god." Cat breathes. "That movie always makes me cry all night. Plus all the water makes me want to wazz… and I've been trying to keep that to a minimum lately…" Cat rambles.

"Cat." I stop her, turning to her. She looks at me expectantly. "Cat, you're the most important person in the world to me."

"Um… are we rehearsing the play now?" Cat tilts her head.

"What? No. This is all me right now. I was just thinking… about how you always stick your neck out for me. Whether it's with boys or catching me when I'm falling… you're always there. And I'm sorry I wasn't more appreciative of that." I breathe. Cat's eyes search mine silently, looking surprised at my outburst. "I… I know I can always count on you, Cat. And that's really important these days, you know? And so, yeah… You're important to me. To have around. I value you so much and I will never ever forget that again. And that's my promise… to not let you go again."

Cat continues to stare at me, and then she quickly looks down. "I… Oh." She whispers.

Did I… did I come on too strong? Could she tell? She was looking at me pretty hard… Maybe she saw the look that Jade saw.

Well, chiz.

"Cat… I just… wanted to tell you…" I mumble. She turns away slightly. Her hand tugs a little from mine, like she wants to run away. She wants to run away. I couldn't wait. I let my feelings shine through. And now she doesn't have a choice.

"Oh." Cat repeats. She's silent after that. I want to cry, but I don't want to make it more uncomfortable than it already is. I bite my lip, hard, and turn back on the TV. Anything to help cut the tension. I barely scroll through three channels before Cat places her hand gently on top of mine on the remote. "Um… Tori?"

It takes every bit of effort I have to turn my head to look at her. "Yes, Cat?"

"I… have a confession." She whispers.

Here it is. The rejection.

"Go ahead." I breathe. She closes her eyes for a moment before opening them. Her eyes are glossy, and they're big and beautiful and shiny. My heart hurts.

"Tori you… you shouldn't…" She takes a deep breath. I take a deep breath. "You shouldn't put so much faith in me."

"Huh?" I blink. She bites her lip.

"When you went on those dates… I didn't interrupt them to see if they were good enough for you. Well, that was part of it, but…" She's shaking. I can feel her hand tremble in mine. "I… _meant_ to ruin those dates."

"You… what?" I gape. Well, I'm thrown through a loop.

"I wanted to ruin those dates. I'm sorry, Tori." Cat whimpers.

"But why?" I ask softly. Could it be…?

"Because I was… I was jealous." Cat admits. "I didn't want to see you with them because… _I _wanted to be with you. I wanted to be on those dates with you, and I didn't want to lose you to them and I know it's not my place but… but it was eating me up inside! But it's not fair and I'm just… I'm sorry…" Cat starts crying softly.

My heart swells up… she likes me… she wanted to date me… but also _hey!_

"You're right. That wasn't fair." I lecture.

"I know." Cat sniffs. "But now you know and you can hate me all you want. I deserve it. I really do want to be there for you, like you said, but… it's just… not in the same way you're able to have me be there for you. And that's okay, it's not your fault. I'm okay. I just don't want to lose our friendship… but I'll understand now… now that you know you can't really count on me…" Cat trembles.

You know what? So what if she ruined those dates because she was jealous. That's _adorable_. And who needs them, anyway? Cat likes me. I have her. And I guess I really am good at controlling my temper now because…

I ain't even mad.

But she's sad and she has no reason to be… I should fix that.

"Cat…" I breathe, cupping her cheek. She stares at me, looking scared again… scared of my rejection. No wonder she was always so afraid of letting me down if she's had a crush on me this whole time… I lick my lip slightly. "This is probably a bad idea to do this right now." I state.

"H-huh?" Cat stammers.

"But right now, I don't care." I murmur.

"Tori…wha…" Her voice trails off when she sees me lean in. Her eyes flick from my lips to my eyes and to my lips again, and then her eyes flutter shut. That's when my lips touch hers.

And everything feels like it explodes.

I don't know what I expected… I definitely didn't think I was going to be kissing Cat anytime soon but… I'm _so_ glad it was sooner rather than later. Her lips fit with mine perfectly, a plush and warm connection that feels just as closely bonded together as our hands right now. She sighs softly, and that spreads goosebumps across my body. I pull her closer, moving my lips slowly against hers. It's gentle, unassuming. There's no desperate need like what you see in the movies when the couple have their first kiss. It's just… relaxed. Like… like I'm snuggled up inside on a stormy day.

It all makes so much sense now… How Cat would always be extra affectionate toward me, how she would interrupt my dates, how she'd say she felt warm around me… And it makes sense for me now, too. Just kissing her… it feels like nothing else. I mean, I've kissed guys before and I'm not saying it's better with Cat but it's just… different…

No, no it's way better, too.

She's being gentle with me back, scooting ever closer, her hand holding mine tight… And I can't believe I've been missing out on kissing Cat this whole time. It's beyond the most incredible sensation… I don't think anything could ruin this moment.

"…I **knew it**!"

Cat and I rip away from each other, gawking at the front door where my father is standing. Why, why every time I'm having a moment with Cat, my parents have to interrupt?

"Ha! I would've bet money on you two! And I was right! Haha!" My dad cheers. "There goes the worries of teenage pregnancies! Oh, don't mind me, you two. Just… get back to what you were doing. I'll be upstairs." He grins, wiping a faux tear away. "Tori, you make me so proud. Cat, I know you'll make my daughter happy."

He quickly runs up the stairs, and we're left there with our mouths open.

"Well, uh… that… happened." I fumble.

"Your… father… or the kiss?" Cat breathes.

"Both." I gulp. "Did you… like the kiss?"

"Oh. Yes. Very, very much." Cat shifts slightly. "Did… you?"

"It was… the best kiss I've ever had." I confirm, and my heart soars as I watch her teeth flash from her smile and the pink fill her face from her blush. "Cat… I want you to be there for me like you want to be."

"For real?" Cat blinks.

"No doubt." I nod. We both blush and look away, feeling completely giddy at our confession… at our newfound state in our relationship. And feeling a bit anxious at not knowing where to go from here. So, this is the part where one of us get's so flustered we run out of the room, right? Well, I guess the Grizzly Glue changes that rule, just like Jade said. "So…" I start.

"So…" Cat murmurs.

I know we have a lot to talk about. What this means for us, how we want to approach this, what we're going to do about feeling this way about each other while our hands are glued… a lot of ways to approach this responsibly. But again, right now I don't care.

"Want to kiss again?"

"Yes, yes I do."

And you know the sight of Cat's smile approaching mine? I could get used to that.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Effing finally. And just in two days time. Honestly, I think that's the fastest I've ever let them get together. Maybe all of my stories should have had them glued together. Doesn't leave them much room to dodge their feelings... it was only a matter of time. But now what? How will they deal? Probably with more kissing. Teehee.**

**You guys are all wonderful. Just sayin'. **

**Fun Fact: There's a hint to a future story in this chapter. Not saying what, just that it's there. I'M A TEASE AND YOU LOVE ME FOR IT maybe. Nah you hate me for it, it's cool.**


	6. Head In The Clouds

**Disclaimer: Know what it feels like to not own Victorious? It feels like the opposite of what Tori's about to describe to you.**

* * *

You want to know what it's like to kiss Cat?

Well, I don't think words for it have been invented in any language to really capture the magic, so I'll try my best…

It's like waking up in the middle of the night, looking at the clock, and seeing you still have time to curl up and go back to dreaming. It's like getting back home after an incredible night with people you love where so many insane things happened that you know you'll remember forever. It's like sitting by a pool at 2AM in the countryside, picking out shooting stars and seeing how expansive the universe really is. It's like watching every sunset and sunrise you'll ever see. It's like that feeling you get after you've completed a really difficult task, and now you can relax. It's like… falling off a railing and being caught, knowing you're safe again.

It's like all those things rolled into one… given form through a physical, intimate touch. Who knew it'd feel this perfect? This… this… Lubrytable.

Hey, I said there's no word invented to describe it, so I made one. Kissing Cat feels like lubryte. There you go.

I really wish our hands were detached so I could fully grasp her by the waist, but I'm settling for just using the one hand. Cat, however, is using her free hand to tangle her fingers in my hair and ugh that feels even better. We've been at this for… I don't know how long. It's gotten a bit more heated since we first started… much more forceful leaning into the kiss. I've just been wanting this recently and I'm already overdosing. I don't even know how long Cat's wanted this… I don't intend to disappoint her.

Actually, though. How long has Cat felt this way? How long has she been hiding her feelings? How is she feeling right now? Does she have that nagging in the back of her head as well? The one that says… Maybe this isn't the best time to be doing this. Maybe you should clear things up with her first so you both know where you stand. And I hate that nagging because it's not letting me enjoy my first make-out with Cat fully like I _should_ be.

Guess it's time to talk. Ugh.

I move my hand from her waist to run my fingers under her jaw, planting one last firm, long kiss on her lips. When I finally pull away, I tilt her head down a bit so I can rest my lips on her forehead. She's breathing heavily, her hand running down my back slowly. I want to linger here a bit longer, but she moves back first. Her eyes are bright, but also a bit cautious. I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to talk.

"Tori…" Cat starts, her voice hoarse. She clears her throat, and then continues. "That was amazing. Beyond amazing. But… does this mean we're dating?"

I pause a moment, thinking. "Cat… I'd like to date you." I admit. Her mouth twitches into a smile, but she bites her lip.

"Okay… I'd like to date you, too." Cat nods. I feel myself blush, even though I was pretty sure that was going to be her response.

"So… this is great. Really great. But we have a problem." I sigh. Cat holds up our hands.

"This?" Cat inquires, and I nod.

"Yep. That." I agree. "Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of perpetually holding your hand… especially now… but I think we should be really careful. It's kind of a difficult, unique situation and I don't want to overcomplicate things too much with our feelings."

"You mean… with stuff like showers and needing to sleep together and be around each other constantly." Cat says slowly.

"Exactly. Kind of makes for an awkward situation and I don't want to wreck things before they even really start." I frown, holding all our hands together. "I really want this to go somewhere."

"Same…" Cat murmurs shyly. "So we'll be careful. Move slow."

"Right. We know we… like each other… but we don't have to change much. Then as soon as we're our own individual people again, we can…" I trail off. A smirk appears on Cat's face.

"Do this?" Cat ask, leaning forward to kiss me softly. When she pulls away, my eyes flutter open to meet her smiling face.

"Yeah. That." I smile. Cat's blush returns as she looks at our hands.

"I can't promise I might slip up _a little_ bit and let my will power give out sometimes." Cat mumbles. "I was holding off for so long that it might be hard to not be more affectionate with you now that I know you feel the same about me…"

"Well I probably won't complain if you slip up." I grin, thinking of the possibilities. Then, I grow serious. "Cat… how long have you been holding off?"

She uses her left hand to fiddle with my fingers clasped around her right. Her hand is fully fused to mine, but I still have movement in my fingers. Aw, her hand is probably going to be so stiff once we're free.

"I don't know… I was always drawn to you. At some point I started to want to be more than friends with you. It was gradual, I guess." Cat shrugs.

"You should've told me." I frown. I get rejection is scary, but I hate thinking she had this thing weighting down on her for so long.

"I didn't know how too." Cat pouts, looking at me with sad eyes. I shuffle closer to her and pull her into a hug.

"Well now you don't have to worry about that anymore." I assure her.

"Promise we'll go on a date as soon as we're not glued anymore?" Cat asks, cuddling close.

"Of course." I murmur. "And now we have even more of a reason to get unstuck."

"That solvent better be in Trina's room." Cat mumbles. I chuckle lightly, stroking her hair. I force myself to pull away. I guess I don't have much willpower, either. I raise my eyebrow.

"Think we'll be able to get rid of the girlfriend vibe for the play now?" I question. Cat's eyes widen.

"Oh… Mr. Director is going to kill us." Cat sighs. We're interrupted by a buzz from Cat's phone. She picks it up, looking down at it. "It's from Sam… she says she's good to meet at Bots." Cat looks up at me. "Do you want to go?"

"I think it'd be a good idea." I smile. I can't imagine how spending more alone time with Cat wouldn't lead to cuddling and kissing… On second thought, maybe we should stay here… No, no. Remember why you're holding back for now.

"Okay! I'll let her know." Cat types down a reply, sending it to her internet-famous roommate. "We should go now, since we need to catch a bus and she's closer with a motorcycle."

"Right." I nod. "But first I need to… you know." I blush. Ugh it's even more awkward now that we're… dating-ish. This is what I was afraid of. Her cheeks tint pink.

"I should go, too. Um, after you." Cat mumbles.

This time, we both left the sink running… feeling that singing just wasn't enough for this situation anymore.

"Are you good?" I call out behind me after her turn.

"No not yet." Cat admits. Oh dear god. Please hurry. "Okay, just a second… done." She exclaims. Hallelujah. And thankfully my turn is already over and done with.

"I think we can just… ignore that these moments happened once this is all over." I sigh, pulling us to the running sink.

"Yeah… that's fine with me." Cat mumbles. We're a little awkward as we wash our hands, almost afraid to look at each other or brush by each other. See, when we were 'just friends' we could brush it off as no big deal… but now we have the stigma of a couple around us… and this just isn't the kind of thing you do with someone you've confessed your feelings to about an hour ago. But… we can't let this stand in our way. Not after everything.

"Cat," I huff, turning off the sink. "Don't forget we were friends first. We've always been friends. We don't need to forget that… even if our relationship is changing and growing… we still have that base. Our friendship."

Cat looks up at me. "You're right. You're still my best friend. And I'm lucky enough to get a chance to date my best friend…" Cat smiles, looking at the ground shyly.

"So it doesn't have to be so different between us. Just… better." I state. She looks at me affectionately.

"Right. You're the same Tori and I'm the same Cat. We don't need to let a wazz get between us." Cat giggles.

"Exactly." I laugh. "C'mon, let's go catch a bus." Good. Damage control already completed. This can work… it can work.

The first thing we see when we head down the stairs is my mother, obviously home from wheelbarrow shopping, standing in the middle of the room with the giddiest smile on her face as she looks at us. It's actually a little creepy.

"Uh… Hi, mom." I blink at her. She just continues smiling, and Cat and I shoot each other confused looks. See, creepy.

"Um, did you buy a wheelbarrow, Mrs. Vega?" Cat asks. A sudden shrill squeal escapes from my mom and both Cat and I jump back in surprise.

"Dad texted me." She reveals. Oh. The blush is strong right now.

"That's um… nice. We can talk about it later." I mumble, pulling Cat to the door.

"Hold on, Tori." Mom stops me, sounding more serious. I turn to her slowly. She walks over, and to my surprise, puts her hands on either side of Cat's face. She tilts her head side to side, and Cat stares on in surprise while mom inspects her.

"Mom, what are you doing?" I sigh. She ignores me.

"You like my daughter?" Mom questions.

"Yes, ma'am." Cat confirms. Ooh, it was nice to hear that again.

"And you're not going to take advantage of your predicament with her, are you?" Mom interrogates. Cat blinks a couple of times.

"Uh…" Cat stalls.

"Don't worry, mom, we're holding off until we're not glued anymore." I roll my eyes, my cheeks burning red.

"That's not the case according to the text from your father." Mom scolds.

"A brief lapse in control." I sigh. Mom stares at me a moment.

"Well, as a mother I'm glad you're both being cautious." She states. "But as a person, I won't be against it if you lapse some more." Mom grins.

"Oh god… what is with you two…" I groan.

"It's not like you've had a lot of luck with the other side of the gender spectrum." Mom huffs.

"Told you." Cat whispers in my ear. Okay that's it.

"Alright! We're leaving, bye!" I call out, dragging Cat out the door.

"Have fun you two! Be back in time for the Trina bedroom purge! I'll feel much better once my daughter isn't glued to her girlfriend." Mom shouts after us. I let out another groan, but those butterflies stir up a bit at the mention of her being my girlfriend. I'm not even sure if we're going by that label yet, but it's definitely a nice thought.

"Wow, your parents are some of the most open-minded people I've ever met." Cat gapes.

"Yeah, when you have a daughter like Trina, you have to become accepting of pretty much anything." I sigh. Plus, they seemed _genuinely_ concerned I was going to get knocked up before I was ready… and that worries me. "Also they're pretty into equal rights. When my dad first started in the justice system he did security for LA Pride… I guess that experience sparked a lot of empathy and it rubbed off on my mom. Now that they know they have a daughter that falls somewhere under the LGBTQ umbrella, I have no idea what monster I've unleashed in them." I ponder. I'm expecting them to create a 'Parents in Support of LGBTQ' organization within the week.

"That's amazing. You're pretty lucky." Cat smiles, squeezing my hand. I smile back.

"Yeah, you're right… even if sometimes they come off overwhelmingly supportive." I sigh, and then I give Cat a serious look. "What about you? How will… your parents react?"

She thinks for a moment. "I think it's the same thing. If they've had me and my brother as children, they have to be pretty accepting. But at the same time, they never talk about my uncle and uncle, so I have no idea." Cat shrugs.

"Are you worried about their reaction?" I question. She looks down, leaning close.

"A little bit." She mumbles. "They're expecting me tomorrow so I'll definitely be telling them, so we'll see." Cat breathes, looking up with me. "You'll be with me, right?"

"Cat, even if we get our hands unglued tonight, I'd definitely still go with you to help you come out to your parents. That's a promise." I nod. Her smile widens and she leans up to peck my cheek, causing us both to blush.

"I'm still nervous, though. Even with you there." Cat admits.

"So practice coming out to Sam once we get to Bots." I suggest. Cat's eyes widen in horror.

"Coming out to Sam!? I didn't even think about that! I have no idea how she feels about that… Oh my god, I'm her roommate! What if she'll feel weird about it now? And if she hates it, she might do that thing where she flips me over her shoulder." Cat lets out a terrified gasp. "Or worse… _the buttersock_."

Buttersock?

"Hey, you're friends, right? I'm sure she won't get violent just because you like a girl." I try to calm her down.

"Tori, you don't understand! The other day she got violent just because my friend Dice slightly shifted her iCarly remote from its usual spot! The poor kid has to grow all his wonderful curly hair back! Now how will he do his hair modeling?" Cat cries. "And that's just over a remote! What if she really is homophobic? Where's she from… Seattle? Is Seattle homophobic? I don't know! Well I guess Macklemore is from there and he made that one song but-"

"Cat!" I stop her, turning to face her. "Relax, okay? If Sam has a problem with us, that's her issue, not ours. And if she tries to… buttersock you? We'll use our arms to clothes line her and then run away. But I really doubt it'll be as bad as you're thinking in your head." I assure her.

"Okay." Cat takes a deep breath. "Okay, you're right. I can do this."

"We can do this." I correct.

"Right. We." Cat grins, her worries seeming to melt away. She bites her lip slightly. "I want to kiss you again."

"I know. I want to kiss you, too. But we should probably hold off. And you have no idea how much it hurts to say that." I mutter. Like we decided, we have to be responsible about this, no matter how much my mom encourages lapses in control.

"Okay… yeah. Sorry I brought it up." Cat smiles slightly, but I see the disappointment in her eyes. My heart feels like it wants to rip out of my chest and stab me in the face. Ugh, being responsible is hard.

"Don't be sorry. I like the thought of it." I chuckle.

"Oh, same." Cat smiles, and then she gets a far off, dreamy look in her eye. She licks her lips. Oh Jesus.

We make it to our bus stop and the bus pulls up almost immediately, interrupting whatever fantasies were flying through her head. Good thing, because seeing those glossy, slightly puckered lips nearly made me break down entirely. The problem is, I don't think either of us would complain… Ugh, it's so hard to see what the right thing to do is.

The bus is pretty full, but we find two seats next to each other along the side following the length of the bus. When we sit down, she snuggles close as she usually does. The tingles across my body remind me of how much I wanted to snuggle back before, so now I allow myself a bit of a lapse. I reach over my right hand to her left arm, slipping my fingers between our arms to gently caress her with my thumb. Her skin must be made of satin. It must be.

She squeezes my hand. I hope that means it feels as nice to her as it does to me.

As much as I'm looking forward to becoming my own individual person again so I don't have to think of holding Cat's hand as an obstacle anymore, I also have grown to appreciate that a squeeze of a reassurance is just a muscle twitch away between the two of us. But I guess the rest of the world isn't as used to us holding hands as we are. I can see the other bus passengers taking idle glances at us every so often. Before there would be no substance behind their thoughts because we weren't together, just two friends who had a mishap. Now, their assumptions are correct. Now we have something to defend.

"You're not used to people staring, are you?" Cat asks suddenly. I guess she noticed, too. Maybe I tensed up a little, because somehow she sensed my uneasiness.

"Not unless I'm on stage." I mumble. "You're used to it?"

"Mhm." Cat nods, brushing her hair to the side. "The red hair is kind of an eye-catcher. Plus, sometimes I admit I have a unique way of carrying myself." She admits, and I smirk at that. Unique and cute.

"Do you like the extra attention?" I question. She tilts her head slightly.

"Uhm… I wouldn't say I like it. I don't do anything for attention, unless it's you." She blushes.

"You have my attention." I smile, and she beams.

"Good… but generally I do things how I want. I don't want to fit in… like the clouds. They're different, and people watch them, but they don't float by because people will watch them. They just do their thing, you know? And they don't stop floating by and doing their thing even when people complain about them." Cat philosophizes.

"That's a unique way of looking at it." I state. And cute. "A good way of thinking about it." And cute.

"I like to think the people who look at me because of my hair just look because it's different, and they're just curious, that's all. So… when they see us holding hands… they're still not really used to that and they're just watching because they're curious… watching the clouds roll by." Cat sighs. That's true. I admit before if I saw a homosexual couple, I couldn't help but glance. But that's just because I'm not used to seeing it, and not everyone looks on out of innocent curiosity.

"And what happens if they try to stop the clouds from rolling?" I inquire.

"You mean strangers?" She asks. I watch as Cat turns her head to meet eyes with one the passengers on the bus, and they immediately turn away. "They can't. Not really. They can try, but no matter what, the clouds would always just slip through their fingers. They're ultimately just observers."

"I see…" I nod slowly, but Cat grows a bit more solemn.

"The only ones who can affect the clouds are the ones close to them. The wind, convection, precipitation, protons and electrons…" Cat lists off, showing her science side off again. "Depending on the conditions, those closest to the clouds can turn them into storms." She pauses for a moment, and then looks at me. "Know what happens then?"

"What?" I question.

"Then we curl up inside in the warmth with each other until it passes." She smiles.

"I like that idea." I chuckle. "So, judgement never bothers you?" I ask, finally directly sending her the question. She bites her lip.

"I'd like to say it doesn't, but sometimes it bothers me. Sometimes I worry about a possible storm, and if it'll do some damage." Cat mumbles.

"I get that. You have a very positive outlook and I admire that so much about you, but you're also human. I get wanting to be liked." I sigh.

"And you like me?" She flutters her eyelashes.

"Yeah I do." I smile. "And hey, if you ever feel hurt by someone, you know you can defend yourself, right? You're a lot stronger and smarter than a lot of people give you credit for. That's worth standing up for."

Cat's eyes grow glossy and she gives me a bright smile. "Thank you, Tori. That's honestly the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me." She breathes, looking down. "Other than this one time someone told me I'm a beautiful girl with a beautiful personality that anyone would be lucky to date. One-hundred percent." Cat murmurs. I feel myself blush at that. I can't believe she remembered that. I had no idea if any of my words stuck, but it must have meant more to her than she showed.

Something I didn't expect out of a relationship with Cat is how strong she'd make me feel. The whole world could stare at us and I wouldn't care because of her. I guess I was one of the people who didn't give her enough credit, and I'll never make that mistake again. I have to express this somehow, and with my spurt of bravery, I tip her chin to me and give her a light kiss on the lips. She smiles dotingly at me, and I know neither of us regretted that.

But suddenly we're yanked back into reality as we notice now that _every single person_ on that bus was now staring at us with no indication of trying to hide it. They all look in awe. How long had they been staring? How long had they been listening? Our faces burn a deep red, possibly waiting for someone on that bus to attempt to cause a storm…

"…That was beautiful." One guy nearby gawks.

"Mommy, can I be a cloud?" A young girl tugs on her mother's sleeve.

"Of course, sweetheart." The mother coos.

"Hell yeah! I want to be a cloud!" A large, tough looking guy at the back shouts. Everybody murmurs in agreement.

"Uhh…" I stare, just as the bus comes to a stop. Cat rips her eyes away from the bystanders to look out the window, and she gasps.

"Tori! It's Bots! This is our stop!" Cat exclaims.

"Oh! Okay, let's go." I jump up, taking Cat with me. I feel even more embarrassed as the passengers politely clap for us as we move to the front.

"You go, girls!" The same voice belonging to the tough guy cries out as we jump off the bus. We watch in silence as the bus pulls away.

"Wow. Life is definitely more interesting with you." I comment.

"And with you! I've never been applauded off a bus before." Cat stares. I turn and pull her against me, grasping her at the hip.

"Guess I'm not the only one who can tell how special you are." I grin, and she blushes, looking away. I let out a breath and step back as far as our glued hands will let me. Back to controlling myself. Wazz it all.

"Oh. Sam's motorcycle is here." Cat observes.

"Nervous?" I ask.

"A little bit." She mumbles. Sam's close to Cat. Sam can cause a storm.

"I'll be with you. Don't stress about what _could_ happen too much, okay?" I assure her. Although, I'm a little nervous myself. I have no idea what a buttersock is but it can't be pleasant if even Cat's afraid of it.

"Right. Okay." Cat nods, and then she slaps a smile on her face. "Ever been to Bots before?"

"Can't say I have. You talk about it enough, though." I note.

"It's really cool! And weird. I mean the food is pretty good but the service can be unpredictable." Cat explains, tugging me to the restaurant.

"Can't be worse than Mrs. Lee." I state. Cat cocks her head.

"I'm not too sure about that." Cat mumbles. "I'm just warning you, there's no guarantee you won't get hot cheese sprayed on you."

Buttersocks? Hot cheese? What does Cat deal with on a daily basis?

"I think I kind of deserve the whole hot cheese thing, to be honest. Make it even." I joke, and Cat flashes me a smile. We head down a flight of stairs and head through the door, and I'm met with a very futuristic industrial chic atmosphere. And yes, there seems to be animatronic wait staff, just like Cat always described. The last thing I notice is Sam sitting in one of the middle booths, and she sees us at the same time. She immediately hunches over to stifle her laughter, face buried in what look like… pork fingers?

"Oh my god, I thought I was all laughed out. I didn't think it'd still be so funny when I saw you two… you two… hahaha!" Sam howls, and Cat glares.

"Sam!" Cat huffs. Sam leans back, giving us a smug look. Ugh, she reminds me of Jade so much.

"Are you two going to come sit down? Or are you just going to…" She pauses to snort, "stick around over there?"

"Very funny." Cat mumbles, pulling me to the booth. "Sam, this is Tori."

"Yeah, I remember." Sam shrugs. "You were also dating Carly's boyfriend at the same time as her."

"That wasn't my fault." I sigh.

"I know, and you helped take that skunkbag down with us, so you're cool with me." Sam states, sticking out her hand to shake mine… but she sticks out her left so that I can't shake it properly since my left hand is glued to Cat's. I know she's doing that on purpose, and she smirks a little when I have to twist my hand to shake hers.

"Sam! Language!" Cat whines.

"Cat! I don't care!" Sam matches her tone mockingly, and then stuffs a pork finger into her own mouth. "So, how's the hand situation been going?"

"We're getting by." I confirm.

"Oh, that's no fun. No embarrassing stories?" Sam scoffs.

"No." Cat says quickly, blushing. "Where's the PearPad? We need to order." She reaches over me to press a button, and to my surprise a PearPad raises up from the table. Well, that's cool. "Tori? What do you want?"

"Do they have hamburgers?"

"They do! I'll order two for us. It comes with fries." Cat tries to press something, but her eyebrows scrunch and she gets a look of frustration. "What? It's not working."

I jump a little as a large red robot rolls up beside us. "I'm sorry, the PearPad system is down. You will have to order orally!" The robot exclaims in its electronic voice. Sam snorts again.

"Yeah, I knew that." Sam smirks.

"And you didn't tell us?" Cat huffs.

"Didn't feel like it." Sam shrugs, making Cat roll her eyes.

"Okay Tandy, we'll have two hamburgers with fries, please." Cat requests.

"Your order has been filed!" The robot named Tandy states, and he… it… thing… shifts toward me. "You are new here!"

"Yeah, she and the redhead got glued together by Grizzly Glue." Sam chuckles.

"Oh, no!" Tandy laments. "Would you like some hot nacho cheese to make it better?"

"No!" Cat snaps.

"Fine! I can see my service is not appreciated!" Tandy scoffs, rolling away. I swear, I saw its eyes flash red for a moment. Cat was right… they definitely seem unpredictable.

"So, how's Dice's hair?" Cat questions.

"Still gone. The hairstylist say it _might_ return to its original curly form." Sam smiles, and Cat shoots me a look that says _**see**_! I let out a breath. Cat might need a little help to come out.

"Cat, I can pay for both of us if you want." I offer, and she gives me a questioning look.

"No, that's okay. It brought you here, right? Bots is kind of my territory. I'll pay." Cat states. "Is this our first date? I thought we were waiting."

Bingo.

Cat realizes what she said and she slowly turns to look at Sam, who is munching on a pork finger. "Why are you guys waiting?" Sam asks.

"Uh… I… uh…" Cat fumbles, her brain seeming to have stopped working. Oops… well, I got her into this mess.

"Because we don't want to start anything serious while glued together." I answer. Sam looks at Cat, and Cat can only nod slowly while looking terrified.

"Fair enough. But I'd be careful." Sam states.

"We are. We're trying to hold off on any intimacy." I explain. Cat's shaking. I think she might explode. Sam's taking this really well, though. Didn't even bat an eye.

"That's what I mean. You have to be careful on both ends." Sam elaborates, and she lets out a sigh. "Look, I've been in a situation where… You try to avoid the intimacy in hopes that it doesn't ruin anything, whether you're close friends, glued together or… you work together…" Sam trails off, and then she shakes her head. "Point is, that can be habit forming and end up ruining you just as much as going too fast."

"So what do you suggest?" I ask. She shrugs.

"Find a balance. You want to cuddle, then cuddle. You want to kiss, then kiss. Just don't let it take over your life and you're golden. That goes for any relationship, whether you're glued to each other or not." Sam states, and takes a sip of her drink. "Not that it's any of my business."

Cat looks between me and Sam rapidly. "Alright! What's going on here?" Cat cries. "You haven't made any comment on me dating Tori! I know you want to say something!"

"Dude, slow your roll. It's not really news to me." Sam rolls her eyes.

"Wh-what? How?" Cat gapes.

"You talked about Tori enough… and the way you talked about her… yeah, it was obvious. When you told me you got your hands glued together, I figured that was why. You know, like when those pre-teen nubs get their braces stuck together when they try to kiss." Sam reveals.

"Oh…um…" Cat blushes, looking at the table. "So you're fine with it?"

"What? Fine with you both being girls? Cat, I'm from Seattle, where Macklemore made that one song. Plus, I got my twin sister to kiss you, remember? I think I'm okay with it." Sam scoffs, and I chuckle a bit at that.

…Wait, she got her twin sister to do what?

"Oh. Thank god." Cat relaxes, a smile spreading across her face. But her smile disappears (as well as mine) as Sam grabs the front of my shirt and yanks me over the table. "Sam!" Cat protests.

"For the record, if you hurt her, I won't hesitate to pull the buttersock on you." Sam growls.

"Uh. Okay." I flounder. Seriously, what the chiz is this buttersock thing?

"Don't forget it." Sam warns, releasing me. I quickly fix my tube top, since she had pulled it down a little bit.

"Don't be so mean." Cat pouts to Sam before turning to me and brushing some hair out of my face.

"So now that I know… Can I hear the embarrassing stories now?" Sam requests, and we blink at her. "Oh come on, I know you were lying when you avoided the subject earlier. How were those wazzes?" Sam teases.

"Stop it." Cat mumbles.

"I thought it was none of your business." I shoot back, trying to protect our privacy.

"This is." Sam grins. "Ooh, and what about showers? Judging by the fact neither one of you have greasy hair, I assume you didn't go without one. Bet that was fun."

"Sam, seriously!" Cat groans.

"What's the matter, Cat? Did that experience make you feel things your innocent little self never felt before?" Sam goads, and I feel Cat tense immediately.

"I…I…I…" Cat stutters, shifting uncomfortably.

"Cut it out. How would you feel if you had to talk about taking showers with that person you mentioned earlier?" I challenge, trying to defend Cat. Sam instantly narrows her eyes.

"You are two seconds away from having this pork finger shoved through your eye socket." Sam threatens, but it stops her from questioning us.

However, I can't help but smile at Cat's flushed face, and seeing just how tightly she's gripping the side of the table with her other hand.

* * *

"No, no, **no**! It **has** to be here somewhere!" I groan.

"Tori, we've flipped Trina's room inside out three times tonight." Mom huffs.

"And the rest of the house." Dad chimes in.

"It's just not here. We would've found it by now." Mom frowns.

"Maybe there's a place we haven't checked! Do you have an attic?" Cat asks desperately.

"Yes but we haven't gone in it since we moved here." Mom explains.

"Oh no… no…" Cat sniffs, and I quickly pull her to me and she buries her face in my neck. I admit I'm extremely concerned by this, too. I was convinced we would find it tonight. But now my priority is calming down Cat… and I can only do that if I seem calm myself.

"Shh, shh it's okay." I coo softly, nuzzling her. "That can't be the only solvent bottle left in the world. There has to be other families that own it."

"Honestly, Tori, tracking one down might be more trouble than it's worth. What will you do? Post a want ad?" My dad tries to reason. "Surgery might be the easiest solution at this point."

Cat starts shaking and I mouth a "Not helping" over to dad.

"I'm sorry, girls." Mom sighs. My dad thinks for a moment.

"There's still the possibility of Cat's parents. Isn't it possible Cat took it home? And then they may have taken it during the move." Dad suggests. Cat pulls away from me.

"You think so?" Cat asks, hopeful.

"It might be your last chance, but it's a chance." Dad states. Cat nods, and looks at me.

"I wanted to see them tomorrow anyway, so I guess we'll see then." Cat decides.

"I'm willing to take you two." Mom offers.

"Thanks, mom." I smile gratefully.

"Yes, thank you Mrs. Vega." Cat expresses. "And Mr. Vega, of course."

"Told you I liked her." Dad whispers to mom.

"Why don't you two head off to bed? It's been a long couple of days for you." Mom suggests.

"Not in that way, though!" Dad exclaims, putting on the responsible parent face.

"Yes, father." I roll my eyes. "C'mon, Cat." We head out of Trina's room together and start to head to mine. "Do you want to take a shower tonight?"

"No. Too tired. Besides, I think it'd be better in the morning when we're all too groggy to pay attention." Cat points out.

"Ah. Um. Touché." I agree, still heading into the bathroom to brush our teeth and get other things out of the way before bed. Then carefully, as usual, we get into clothes for sleeping and flop into bed. Cat stares up at the ceiling, looking worried.

"I really don't want to have our skin cut apart." Cat whimpers.

"I know. It doesn't sound very nice." I sigh, stroking her hand with my thumb.

"It's not just that… it's… you know. One of our first actions as a couple is literally getting torn apart." She mumbles. "That's symbolic in the worst ways."

"Cat…" I frown. "It won't mean anything like that."

"Maybe not, but… Tori… you have no idea how much I've wanted this." She turns her head to look at me. "I've wanted it for so long and it's still so recent so it still doesn't feel real… I don't want to jinx it."

"Hey, maybe it hasn't been as long as you, but now I want this too. More than anything. A little surgery won't wreck that." I state. "We can even recover together. Watch movies and snuggle and stuff."

"Promise?"

"I promise." I murmur. "Remember how Sam said it's important to have balance now and kiss when we want?"

"Mhm." Cat smiles. I lean over and give her a deep kiss… and it. Feels. Wonderful.

"Ugh I've been dying to do that." I breathe, pulling away for only a moment before bringing my lips to hers again.

"Mmm…" Cat sighs, sounding content, but she pulls back slightly. "Maybe making out in bed is still moving too fast though."

"Right…" I breathe, and she grins as she sidles close. But then her grin turns into a frown as our arms keep getting in the way, and I wince when she accidentally twists my arm painfully.

"Sorry!"

"What are you trying to do?"

"Be the big spoon." Cat pouts. Aww.

"Oh, Cat." I chuckle, bending our arms a bit and placing our hands on the pillows between us. I drape my other hand loosely across her stomach. "This will have to do."

"It's more than enough." Cat beams. "Nighty night, Tori."

"Goodnight, Cat." I murmur. She leans her head forward a bit to leave a kiss on the back of my hand before closing her eyes.

So… less than a day together and being forced to be stuck together didn't turn out badly… in fact, it feels pretty natural with her. Fateful. It wasn't a train wreck at all.

Take that, Jade West.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Yeah, Jade West! In your face! I'm kidding I love you don't stab me with scissors. Anyway, aw look at them being all together and clouds and trying to make it work and stuff. Yay, Cori. Forever vicoriously. NOW FIX YOUR HAND SITUATION. Gawd.**

**You guys are still awesome, by the way. I mean, I like our little community here. The Victorious FanFiction community is one of the best, most supportive on the internet. I'm not just saying that to get reviews, I really mean it. I appreciate you all so much and it's almost 6am and I wanted to tell you. Now you know.**

**Fun Fact: I only put the Tandy cameo in this chapter because his "Oh, no!" line was one of my favourite things ever. I needed to type that brilliance myself.**


	7. Caught Glue Handed

**Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious, or Sugarland, or Elvis. NOBODY OWNS THE KING. NOBODY. hashtag Elvis is still alive hashtag probably not actually.**

* * *

Sleep came to me so quickly. I guess I had forgotten I had little sleep in the last twenty-four hours… plus, this time I wasn't worried about how Cat would react to my crush. Now I know... she likes me back and she's sleeping right next to me…

Or not. I just opened my eyes and met hers, wide open and staring at me with a slight smile on her face.

"You slept better last night." She comments, sounding tired. I give her a smile.

"And how do you know that?" I inquire.

"I woke up a while ago and you were still sleeping, and I can't go do other things while I wait for you to wake up, so… I just watched you sleep." Cat murmurs, and I blush. Good thing I don't snore… at least I'm pretty sure I don't…

"Oops… sorry." I sigh, squeezing her hand. Still stuck. Geez, if anything you'd think after two days the adhesive would've weakened a little bit but nope.

"It's okay. I thought it was a good way to pass the time." She breathes. Great, I just woke up and she's already making me overheat.

"Did you at least get a good night's rest too?"

"Oh definitely." Cat grins, and then she bites her lip, eyes growing heavy. She leans forward a moment, hesitates, and then closes the distance to give me a sweet good morning kiss.

I am never waking up any other way ever again.

She pulls back, almost looking worried, but I smile at her with a swell in my heart as large as a tsunami. "What a way to wake up." I sigh. She starts to beam in response.

"You didn't start screaming or try to get away or punch me." Cat comments, seeming very excited by this. I blink at her.

"Why would I?" I question. She shrinks down a bit, looking shy.

"It just means… that yesterday wasn't a dream." Cat gushes, and my heart throbs in the best way. How can someone be so cute?

"It definitely wasn't." I chuckle.

"Yay…" Cat cheers tiredly, nuzzling her head against my glued hand. Nope. It's not possible to be so cute. Oh god our hands need to be unglued so I can hold her. I need to snuggle this girl into my arms. I watch her dotingly, and I notice her eyes suddenly go wide. "It wasn't a dream…" She gasps, sitting up quickly.

"Yes… and this is a good thing… right?" I say slowly. Her brow furrows as if she thinking about it. Well that's not worrying _at all_. "Right?"

Her eyes snap to mine. "Oh, Tori of course." She smiles.

"Then what's the matter?" I question.

"It's just… it means I'm coming out to my parents today." Cat mumbles. "And we might have to get surgery on our hands and even if that doesn't mean we can't be together after, it still sounds painful!"

I carefully sit up with her and place my hand gently on her knee, offering support. She sounds as stressed as I did yesterday morning. "Did you actually sleep well last night?" I interrogate.

"I did! …For the most part. I did have a bad dream at one point." Cat mutters. "I dreamt that there was a doctor chasing us with a chainsaw to cut us apart, except the way they wanted to do it involved, um…" She shifts slightly, "Seriously hurting you. And we were running and then they cornered us and I turned around and **it was my mom**!" Cat cries. "It was so scary! But then I woke up and you right there and you were okay…" She blinks a moment. "Oh, and right before I woke up, my teeth fell out."

"I can't vouch for the rest, but I've definitely had dreams where my teeth fall out." I nod. "I looked it up once. It's supposed to mean you're afraid of losing something."

"You… my family…" Cat lists off. "…My hand…"

"Yeah, I got that idea from the dream you described." I sigh. She pouts, fiddling with my hand in hers. I shift close to her and give her the most encompassing one-armed hug I can muster. "Remember how coming out to Sam went?"

"She threatened to buttersock you."

"Yes… after she said she was okay with us. Maybe it won't be as bad as you think. Most things people worry about never actually end up happening." I point out.

"That's true. One time I worried my brother would try to cook and feed us turtles for dinner." Cat mumbles.

"And did he?"

"Not in the way I thought he would."

…

No. No I'm not going to ask her to elaborate.

"See?" I slap on a smile. "Besides, I'll be with you the entire time."

"And if my mom pulls out a chainsaw and tries to seriously injure you?" Cat asks. "You know… just in case… it never hurts to be prepared…"

"I'll… remind her my dad is a cop."

"Perfect."

"Better?"

"No…"

"Why?" I tip her chin up, eyeing her with concern. She lets out a sigh.

"Because we still have to shower." Cat mutters. I feel my skin crawl.

"Oh. Right. That." I bite my lip.

* * *

Cat and I are geniuses. Two heads really are better than one.

We had stood in front of the shower for about ten minutes, hand in hand, staring at it awkwardly and trying to figure out how to make this work. I guess both of us didn't want to cross this line anymore, and were we inwardly trying to talk ourselves up so we wouldn't let this pierce our souls. At least, I was. I don't think I'm at a stage in my life where I'm okay with being attached with a naked girl who's still nerve-wracking just to kiss. Luckily, Cat spoke up.

"If only there was a way to wash our hair without being full frontal." Cat murmured.

"Bathing suits?" I suggested, sounding hopeful.

"Maybe. But I don't have mine here and I don't think yours would…" She glanced at my chest, "Really give me the support I need." Cat ripped her eyes away, blushes on both our faces.

Right.

"So I guess we just… suck it up." I said, and immediately regretted my word choice.

"If only we were at a hair salon." Cat murmured, and I looked at her.

"Why?" I questioned.

"They have those little sinks where you can lean your head back and-"

"Cat." I had cut her off, my eyes wide. "Cat, I just remembered… my shower has a detachable showerhead."

"What?!" Cat gasped, and I grinned.

"Here, lean over the side of the tub." I instructed, and she did so.

Like I said, we're geniuses.

Not only did we get to stay fully clothed so I didn't have to secretly perv over her bare back in the mirror, but we also had to help with the shampooing and such. So, we got the opportunity to run our hands through each other's hair and feel the sensation of the other's hand on our scalp. Basically, it was heaven. We decided we can survive the day on clean clothes, deodorant and perfume. I definitely don't think Cat is even near the realm of smelling bad yet, anyway. Still holding hope that we'll find that solvent at Cat's parent's place…

That's where we're headed now. We're in the back seat of me mum's car and Cat's snuggled into my side with her head on my shoulder. We're silent, for the most part. It's a bit of a long drive, so we have a lot of time to amp ourselves up for the oncoming search and inevitable discussion with Cat's parents. My mom finally breaks the silence when she pushes a button on the car stereo.

_**You can shake an apple off an apple tree,  
Shake-a, shake-a sugar  
But you'll never shake me,  
Uh uh uh  
No sir-ee oh ohh,  
I'm gonna stick like glue  
Stick because I'm,  
Stuck on you**_

I hear my mom chuckle.

"Very funny, mom." I roll my eyes.

"Hey, Elvis is the King." Mom scoffs.

"Yes but did you have to choose this song?" I sigh.

"Why? I find the lyrics very relatable." Mom teases.

"You know, Cat and I may need surgery because of this." I mumble. Cat tenses up beside me and I squeeze her hand.

"All the more reason to make light of it! Laughter is the best medicine, you know." Mom explains.

"Let me know when you find a joke that's the best solvent." I retort, and she lets out a huff.

"You're no fun. I thought you'd be more cheerful now that you're dating Cat." She scoffs.

"I am! But we've been stuck together for a long time, you know." I grumble.

"Fine, fine. I'll change it." Mom complies, pressing another button.

I hear the opening of the song and I immediately groan.

_**Absolutely nobody knows me better,  
Nobody that can make me feel so good  
How did we stay so long together,  
When everybody  
Everybody said we never would  
And just when I,  
I start to think they're right,  
The love is died,**_

_**There you go makin' my heart beat again,  
Heart beat again,  
Heart beat again,  
There you go makin' me feel like a kid  
Won't you do it and do it one time  
There you go pullin' me right back in,  
Right back in,  
Right back in  
And I know-oh  
I'm never lettin' this go-oh  
I'm stuck on you**_

_**Whoa-oh whoa-oh stuck like glue,  
You and me baby we're stuck like glue**_

"Seriously?" I huff.

"Oops, how did that get there?" My mom smirks.

"You have a whole playlist of songs like this, don't you?" I glare.

"One hundred and six of them."

"_Mom_!"

"Alright, alright, fine. I'll turn it off." Mom exasperates, reaching for the stereo.

"Wait!" Cat cries out, and mom pauses. Cat looks down shyly. "… I like this song."

My mom gives me a look through the rear view mirror and I roll my eyes. "Then let the Sugarland continue."

"I knew Cat would be good for you." Mom grins, relaxing back into her drive.

"You seem more on edge than I am." Cat comments, reaching up and stroking my cheekbone with her finger. I close my eyes, taking in a deep breath. She's right. I have to keep acting put together for her sake… I know Cat well enough that if she gets too freaked out, she passes out… That would be bad for two reasons. One, I don't want Cat to pass out. Two, I especially don't want her to pass out while I'm glued to her. We can only work as a team if she's actually conscious. But I should be honest with her as well… just be tactful.

"I guess I'm just anxious for what's to come, that's all." I give her a reassuring smile. "I kind of want this to be all over with… the coming out, the ungluing… then we can finally really start to enjoy our relationship."

"Oh." Cat nods, understanding. "Yeah. Me too. But I think I'm already enjoying our relationship."

"Yes of course." I laugh. "I just mean in a way where it doesn't have to be complicated. I don't want it to be complicated."

"Same. Liking you felt pretty complicated for a long time… but it feels right, too. I just want it to feel right. I hope my parents agree." Cat murmurs.

"Are you coming out to your parents, Cat?" My mom asks.

"Yeah." Cat gulps, shuffling closer.

"Well if they have a problem with it, just call me and I'll be right over. I have pamphlets." Mom states, reaching over to the glove compartment. She pops it open and a mess of rainbow folds of paper spill out.

"Uh… a little overkill, don't you think?" I blink.

"I had to stock up. I have absolutely no problem with you dating a girl but as a parent I'm canny to the societal onslaught you might have to deal with from a few choice people." Mom explains. She reaches over and picks up a pamphlet that seems to be about debunking popular homosexual myths and lightly fans herself with it. "I'm ready." She glowers.

"Oh. Um. That's great, mom. Thank you." I stammer. Seriously, it's great she's so supportive but _wow_ I didn't think she'd take this role with so much gusto.

"I hope my parents are as understanding as you." Cat comments.

"Well if they're not, remember to call me. I'll come right back." Mom declares.

"Thank you, Mrs. Vega." Cat smiles, and I find myself smiling too. If my mom's extreme form of support makes Cat happy, then I'm definitely happy.

Cat's extra cuddly the rest of the way there, snuggling her head under my chin and turning into me slightly. Not complaining at all, but again I wish I could put my arms around her. I settle for the same kind of move I did on the bus, where I reach across to stroke her arm. She made that magical purring sound again, so I know she's just fine with that.

Eventually we pull into the Valentine residence. Good thing, because my legs are stiff and I'm ready to actually start conquering this next hurdle after thinking about it for so long.

"So, granted all things go well with the coming out business, one of your parents will drive you and Tori back tonight, correct?" Mom asks.

"Correct." Cat confirms with a nod.

"Excellent. I'm sure things will go fine, but remember you have me in reserve." My mom states. I really do have one of the best moms.

"I won't forget." Cat smiles, and she turns to me. "Um, I don't want to just go in there and announce it. I want to take my time, find the right moment."

"Absolutely." I agree.

"So… I don't know how long I'll have to wait before I can kiss you again…" Cat mumbles. My mouth curls into a smile and I tip her chin up, but I hesitate for a moment to look at my mom. She's staring back at us with a cheeky look on her face.

"Mom." I huff.

"_Alright_ I won't look. Geez." She grumbles, turning to the front. I shake my head and as soon as I turn to Cat once again, my lips are softly captured between hers. Ahh, lubryte paradise.

"Let's do this." I coo when we pull away, and she nods with a faint blush accenting that dimple I adore so much. "Bye mom. Love you."

"Love you, too. Good luck. Take care of each other." Mom wishes.

"Of course." Cat grins just as I pull her out of the car. We're barely halfway up the walkway when the door flies open.

"Cat!" A woman with short curly hair steps out with her arms spread wide. She has Cat's bone structure.

"Hi, mom!" Cat beams, looking ecstatic. As nervous as she is… this is the first time Cat's seen her parents in a long time. She probably missed them a ton.

"Ohh momma needs some sugar from her favourite daughter!" Mrs. Valentine squeals, running forward to wrap her arms around Cat.

"I'm your only daughter!" Cat laughs.

"Technicalities." Mrs. Valentine scoffs, pulling back. She looks at me. "And hello to you too, Tori!"

She wraps me up in a tight hug, too. I see where Cat got her touchy-feely traits from. "It's nice to see you, Mrs. Valentine." I express and she pulls away from me as well.

"I suppose this was an unexpected visit for you. I see you weren't lying when you explained your predicament on the phone." Mrs. Valentine notes, looking at our hands. Cat made sure to call last night before the Trina room purge to confirm her visit, and also warned she might still be stuck to me. "I guess you weren't able to find the solvent?"

"No, unfortunately. We're hoping to find it here." I sigh. Mrs. Valentine frowns a bit.

"I don't ever remember packing something like that when we moved, but we can try. I'm so sorry Cat got you into this mess, Tori. I know she's done something like this before. Please excuse her incompetence." Mrs. Valentine expresses. I gape slightly at her words and I see Cat shift next to me, looking ashamed. I squeeze her hand.

"It's not a problem. Accidents happen. I've found Cat very capable since getting our hands stuck anyway." I state, and Cat shoots me a small smile.

"Oh, good. It's a relief to hear that." Mrs. Valentine sighs. A man steps in the doorway from behind her. He has Cat's eyes and bright smile.

"Do my ears deceive me? Is my baby doll home?" The man I assume is Mr. Valentine grins.

"Daddy!" Cat cheers, and I'm yanked forward as Cat practically tackles her dad in a one-armed hug.

"She is! She is home!" Mr. Valentine chuckles. "Never leave again."

"Daddy, I have to finish my year at Hollywood Arts!" Cat mumbles.

"Alright, if you say so." He sighs, pulling away and cupping her face. "Let me get a look at you… Is Nona still feeding you?"

"Huh? Oh yes of course she does I mean why wouldn't she since I live with her and she takes care of me since she's my legal guardian and all that so of course I get food from her I mean you know I can't even make soup-" Cat rambles before being cut off by her dad.

"Alright, alright! I see you still talk too much." He sighs, causing Cat to shift uncomfortably again. I give her an odd look. She doesn't even live with Nona anymore… unless her parents don't know that…

"Well I know I can't beat Nona's cooking but I'll try. Come on in you two." Mrs. Valentine ushers us in as Mr. Valentine nods at me.

"Nice to see you again, Tori." He states.

"It's great to see you, too." I smile.

"Looks like you're pretty attached to my daughter, huh? Ha!" He jokes. I fight the urge to roll my eyes. I thought had heard all the jokes by now.

"You have no idea." I smirk. Cat gives me a warning look.

"Try not to get too attached." Mr. Valentine winks and pats me on the shoulder. Well, the fact he can joke about it is a good sign.

"Daddy!" Cat whines.

"I'm just teasing, cupcake." He kisses her on top of her head. Cat pouts slightly.

"I made feta and spinach rolls if you two would like some. I want you to get some before our son devours them all." Mrs. Valentine sighs. Cat blinks rapidly.

"What?" She gawks.

Just then, a lanky guy creeps out from the kitchen, a plate in his arms and a bunch of rolls stuffed in his mouth. The plate is empty. He stares at us curiously and Mrs. Valentine lets out a huff. "Well. Too late for that." She mumbles.

"Daddy…" Cat leans over to her dad to whisper. "Why is my brother here?"

"Hmm? Oh yes. We never told you. The facility didn't… agree with him. So he's put on homecare with regular appointments." Mr. Valentine explains.

"Oh." Cat shrinks down a bit.

"Aren't you happy to see your brother?" Mrs. Valentine inquires.

"Of course! Just… you know…" Cat glances at her brother again before lowering her voice. "Is he… safe?"

"If he's been taking his medication, yes." Mr. Valentine nods. "Don't worry, he hasn't bitten anyone's ear off in months."

Wait, what?

"Okay, good." Cat breathes.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Cat." Her brother scoffs, having swallowed the last of the rolls.

"Sorry! How've you been doing?" Cat asks. He stares at us, and then sticks out a finger, pointing at the both of us.

"Grizzly Glue?" He questions, ignoring Cat's question.

"Uh… Yeah…" Cat mumbles. He blinks three times, and then bursts into a fit of laughter, stalking down a hallway and out of sight. His laugh sent a shiver down my spine. It was almost… evil.

"That was a bit maniacal." I comment. Cat's eyebrows are pulled back in concern.

"Are you sure he's taking his medication?" Cat asks.

"Pretty sure." Mr. Valentine shrugs.

"Tori, do you like board games?" Mrs. Valentine inquires.

"Oh, yeah! Totally." I smile, trying to ignore the interaction with the possibly medicated brother.

"Excellent. I'll pull out a few games. Won't that be nice, Cat? Just like when we used to have family game night." Mrs. Valentine exclaims.

"Absolutely." Cat grins. As soon as her parents turn their back and are out of earshot, Cat pulls me close. "I love my brother, but please keep your distance from him."

"I'd like to keep my ears, thanks." I grimace. "Plus, if there's something you don't want me near, I don't think you'd let me near it." I smirk, holding up our hands.

"Right." Cat smiles in relief.

We play games for a while. I could've won a couple of times, but I held back. No, really! Cat still needs to tell them about our relationship, and I'd like for them to at least be fond of me going into that talk. I mean, they seemed kind of competitive… at least her dad did. I'm not taking any chances.

Cat didn't attempt to bring up our relationship throughout the onslaught of games.

"Ha! Won again!" Mr. Valentine exclaims, slamming his pawn down.

"Very good, dear. I think that's enough for today, don't you think?" Mrs. Valentine yawns.

"Sore loser." Mr. Valentine teases.

"Careful or I'll make sure you don't get any dinner." Mrs. Valentine puts her hands on her hips.

"Yes dear." Mr. Valentine deflates, his wife the real winner.

"Good. I'll go get it ready." She smiles, heading out of the living room.

"And nature calls for me as well as paper work." Mr. Valentines stretches. He looks at us. "Um… have you two had any problem with…?"

"Paper work? No not at all." I joke. He blinks, and then lets out a booming life. Success.

"Ha! Cat you've got a good one here." He winks, also leaving us alone.

"I know." Cat mumbles in response, leaning into me now that the coast is clear.

"You haven't told them yet." I sigh.

"I still haven't found the right moment." Cat breathes, sinking her head onto my shoulder.

"What about when we first got here and your dad said I was pretty attached to you?" I remind her. She pulls her head away, narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah, and then you made a cheeky comment." Cat accuses.

"I thought it was a good lead in… and your dad seemed to have a good attitude about it." I shrug.

"Tori…" Cat sighs, looking at her lap. "It's not so simple."

"I know it isn't. I'm sorry." I mumble, turning her head to me. "What's scaring you? You said your parents are pretty accepting."

"They are, but…" Cat chews on her lip. "They can also be… judgemental."

"Okay…" I nod slowly. "So like when your mom calls you incompetent… and you don't tell your parents you're living without a legal guardian."

Cat perks up and looks around quickly, and when she's satisfied nobodies listening, she sinks down and nods. "Yeah… you noticed that?"

"A little bit." I smile sadly.

"They love me, but they also don't think much of me, I guess. They don't have a lot of faith in me." Cat sighs. "Now you know why I'm so worried I'm screwing up."

"Oh, Cat." I frown. "And the ones close to you are the ones who can cause the storm." I recall.

"Right." Cat nods. "It's funny because they're the ones who taught me to brush off what other people think, but they're also the reason I can sometimes get a little sensitive to criticism first off."

"Like when you say 'what's that supposed to mean'." I conclude. Cat's jaw drops.

"What's that supposed-" She stops when she sees the look on my face. "Oh. Yes. Like that."

"Well I'm sorry about that, Cat. I really am." I murmur.

"Oh, no! Don't be! They're great parents. I have a great relationship with them. But I'm also scared of disappointing them." Cat admits.

"So like, when you come out…" I start.

"They might think it's just another way for me to screw up." Cat muses.

"Cat… it's totally normal to not want to disappoint your parents. I get that. They have expectations from when you were born and I understand not wanting to fall short of them." I sigh. "Like… they might even have fantasies of who you're going to marry… how many kids you're going to have…"

"And coming out might squash those fantasies." Cat whimpers. I cup her cheek. She leans into my touch, closing her eyes. "Especially with my brother the way he is… I'm not saying I'm anywhere near normal but I have more of a chance to function in society than he does. I'm their chance for them to have the kind of kid they always wanted."

"But Cat… You're you. A wonderful you. You're not your parents and you're not obligated to live any life they planned out for you. Yes, they might be disappointed. But they'll get over it. They'll adjust. And this is something you need to do for you. Not for them. Stand up for yourself, remember? Because you're worth it." I urge.

"Tori…" Cat's lip trembles.

"And if you don't want to come out today… that's okay. I won't pressure you. You should only come out when you're ready. But you need to eventually, and I'll be there with you the whole way." I promise.

"Even if we're not glued?" Cat smiles through tearful eyes.

"Yes, even if we're not glued." I chuckle. She nods and wipes her eyes on her arm.

"Okay. But I need to come out to them today. I'm ready." Cat states.

"Good. I'm proud of you." I murmur, tipping her chin to me again. She's looking at me with those bright, deep and affectionate eyes again… I can't help myself. I lean forward and she meets me halfway, pressing our lips together and moving in a soothing motion…

"**Ahh**!" We hear a shriek and immediately pull apart. A tray clatters to the ground with two glasses of what seemed like lemonade spills everywhere. Mrs. Valentine stands at the entrance of the living room, a hand over her mouth, looking horrified. "Oh… Oh my… I… Um… Excuse me…" She rushes out of the room. Ffffff-

"Mom! Wait!" Cat cries, standing up and calling after her distraught mother, I stand up with her, feeling sick.

"Chiz… **chiz** Cat I'm so sorry." I groan.

"It's not… it's not your fault. I could've moved away but I didn't." Cat murmurs. "What do I do?"

"Face the music." I sigh. "And remember my mom is on call with pamphlets."

"Right… okay… alright." Cat breathes, a little too heavily for my liking. I grasp her by the shoulder.

"Cat, I'm with you." I assure her. "Are you going to pass out? Because now is a bad time." I eye her worriedly. She sucks in a deep breath.

"No, I'm okay. Let's go." Cat nods, pulling me behind her. We hear both her parent's voices coming from the kitchen before we reach it.

"Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure?" Mr. Valentine asks.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Mrs. Valentine gasps.

"Well maybe they were just hugging…"

"No, I think I know what a kiss looks like." Mrs. Valentine grumbles.

"…Huh… Well what'd you do?" Mr. Valentine goads.

"I screamed and ran away."

"Oh that's just great."

"I didn't know how to react! What do you say after that?"

"You better figure it out." Mr. Valentine states, pointing to us now that we've made an appearance. Mrs. Valentine slowly turns to us, looking stiff.

"Mom… Daddy…" Cat mumbles. There's silence between all of us and the tension is way too thick for my liking. Someone has to say something.

"I'm… sincerely sorry you had to find out that way." I say, causing Cat to snap out of her frozen state.

"Yeah, I was going to tell you… not _show_ you." Cat sighs.

"So… that wasn't a one-time thing? Or a spur of the moment situation?" Mrs. Valentine inquires, her jaw still set like stone.

"No. I… I like Tori… and she likes me." Cat reveals, reaching her free hand over to place it over our conjoined hands, overtop of mine. Mrs. Valentine stares at us a moment and then turns away.

"I guess… this means you're gay…?" Mr. Valentine says slowly. Cat tilts her head slightly.

"I don't know. I don't think it's just girls. I've liked guys before too but… I don't know. I don't really think about it. I just like the person. It doesn't matter to me if they're a boy or girl… I fall for who they are as a person and…" Cat looks up at me, "I've fallen for Tori for the person she is."

Aww, my heart.

"I see." Mr. Valentine ponders. "Well if anything, I guess it's not too surprising to me that you'd have the capacity to love anyone, Cat."

Cat smiles big at that.

"You can't seriously be okay with this." Mrs. Valentine snaps at her husband.

Cat's not smiling anymore.

"Mom…" Cat whimpers. I debate maybe jumping in, coming to Cat's defense… but maybe I should let them work it out as a family. But as a last resort, I won't hesitate to protect my girl.

"It's a shock." Mr. Valentine agrees. "But what can we do?"

"Maybe it's just a phase." Mrs. Valentine tries to reason, turning to Cat. "Right, Cat? You're just experimenting a little?"

"No… no, I… I've felt this way far too long to be a phase. I know how I feel." Cat argues.

"But…" Mrs. Valentine groans, leaning against the counter. "I don't believe this…"

"Mommy, it's okay. It's okay to be shocked or upset." Cat breathes in, "But it's not okay to tell me what I do or don't feel… and it's not okay to reject me when I'm trying to open up to you." Cat looks up at me. "I'm worth more."

"Cat…" Her mom sighs, shaking her head. "I'd never reject you."

"How could you think we'd ever reject you?" Mr. Valentine chimes in. "We love you, Cat. No matter who _you_ love. But this is new territory for us…"

"_And_ it's not okay for you to be glued to the girl you're seeing!" Mrs. Valentine expresses. "I'd be just as mortified if you were glued to a boy you were… involved with!"

"She's right." Mr. Valentine nods. "Tori… I have no problem with you but this puts us in a difficult position."

"I know. And I agree. It also puts us in a difficult position as, you know… us." I state. "Believe me, we've been careful."

"Yeah, we already talked about it. We don't want to _officially_ start dating until we're, you know… not like this." Cat jiggles our arms. They stare at us a moment and Mr. Valentine lets out a sigh of relief.

"Well that's good to hear." He nods.

"But there's still… interaction between you two, from what I saw." Mrs. Valentine states. "How much longer will you be glued?"

"Hopefully not much longer… if we don't find the solvent here, then we'll be getting surgery." I explain. Mrs. Valentine closes her eyes, blowing out a breath.

"Then you'll be getting the surgery tonight, that's for sure." She announces. Cat and I both tense.

"What? Mom, why?!" Cat shouts.

"I don't want you two spending another night like this!" Mrs. Valentine exclaims. "I agree to work on entertaining this idea of you two being together but understand there's some things I'm just not comfortable with at this stage!"

"But mom…!" Cat cries.

"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves." Mr. Valentine cuts in, trying to defuse the situation. "Cat, Tori, you said there's a chance the solvent is here?"

"Yes, sir." I nod.

"Then let's get searching and hopefully end this conflict as soon as possible. I'll check my tool area." Mr. Valentine declares. Mrs. Valentine drags a hand over her face, pulling herself together.

"And I'll check the boxes we haven't unpacked yet. You two… You look around the house." Mrs. Valentine orders.

"Yes, mommy." Cat says in a small voice. Mr. Valentine nods.

"Meet back here in fifteen minutes. Break!" He shouts, doing a cheesy clap and everything. Mrs. Valentine shakes her head as they leave together, leaving us in the kitchen.

"…Tori?" Cat whispers.

"Cat?" I question, looking over at her with concern. She's shaking.

"I _might_ pass out now." She breathes.

"Don't you dare. There's no reason to pass out. You were great. There may have been… a better way to come out of the closet… but your parents agreed to adjust. That's really all you can ask from them at the moment." I encourage her.

"Right." Cat nods a couple of times. She takes a few deep breathes, holding my hand tight. "Okay, I think I'm good. Let's go find that solvent before my mom decides to grab scissors and cut us apart herself."

"That is a very good idea." I chuckle as she leads me through the house. "Is your mom friends with Jade or something?"

"Very funny, Tori." Cat giggles. Good, a smile. And that's really all _I _can ask of her.

We barely start searching when my phone starts to vibrate. When I look at it, I see Trina's name. Perplexed, I answer the phone.

"Hi… Trina?" I question.

"**Ugh… Tori**?" Trina's weak voice comes through the receiver. "**That you**?"

"Um, yeah." I scrunch my brow. What's up with her?

"**Thank god… I dialed your number wrong probably three times… maybe fourteen…**" Trina drawls.

"Uhh… Are you okay?" I ask.

"**Do I SOUND okay?!**" Trina snaps, followed by a groan. "**Inside voice, Trina… Sorry, I'm feeling a little… under the weather.**"

"Oh. Did you catch a cold?" I inquire.

"**No… This is just blow back from a… really good night last night.**" Trina sighs. Oh. I see. "**It turned into a really bad morning… and afternoon… Ulgh…**"

"Um… try drinking lots of water. I've heard that helps." I suggest.

"**Do NOT say the word **_**drinking**_** to me right now… for wazz sake…**" Trina groans. I let out a huff.

"Listen, Trina, I'm sorry you're feeling awful but is there a reason you're calling?" I ask, trying not to let my frustration shine through. She should've been more careful.

"**Oh, right… Remember that… solvent thing you were looking for?**" Trina mumbles.

"Yes…"

"**Well I found it**."

"What?!" I gasp. Trina is suddenly the best sister. The absolute best. Sister of the year. Sister of the universe. I will never complain about her ever again.

"**Yeah… there was a dorm party last night and this one guy wanted alcohol and so I found that bottle and thought it was alcohol and put it in his drink**…" Trina explains.

"That… probably wasn't good for him…" I grimace. "But this is great news for us! We can maybe meet halfway tomorrow and pick it up! Trina, you have no idea how happy this makes me." I grin, and Cat looks at me with excited eyes at my words.

"**Oh… about that… I can't bring it to you**." Trina sighs. I suck in a breath. She better have a good reason, but I'm willing to convince my mom to drive all the way there, or take a bus…

"_Why_?" I huff.

"**Because there's none left. I put it aaall in that guy's drink.**" There's silence over the phone for a moment. "**…I think he might be dead…**"

TRINA IS THE WORST SISTER IN THE UNIVERSE.

"Trina. You. I. I can't. You have no idea. I don't. I just. It. The solvent. I…I…" I sputter, clutching the phone tightly. "Don't drink any water!"

I end the call, fuming. This is great. Just great. Now Trina has resigned us to our fate. Now we have to get surgery. And now that we for sure know there's no more solvent, there's no way we can convince Cat's mom to wait another day. We'll have to get surgery… maybe in a few hours. And now I have to tell Cat…

Oh god, how do I tell Cat?

"Tori? What was it?" Cat asks curiously, her excitement died down. "Did she find the solvent?"

"Yes…" I trail off.

"Well that's great! But, why do you seem sad?" Cat asks. I bite my lip and she steps close to me. "I'm going to miss holding hands all the time, too. But we can hold hands whenever we want! And give each other full hugs! And kiss more…"

"Cat…" I choke, giving her a pitying look.

We're both distracted by a sound to the side. We turn to see Cat's brother, staring at us from the shadows. Great, from one dysfunctional sibling to another. Creepy.

"What are you doing?" Cat questions. He flashes a grin.

And before we know it he bounds forward and scoops us up in his arms.

"What the chiz?!" I scream.

"Hey! Stop it! Put us down. Bad! Bad brother!" Cat shouts. We continue to yell, kick and struggle but he completely ignores us as he carries us upstairs.

"Cat! What's he doing?!" I cry.

"I don't know! I don't want to know!" Cat groans. "Stop this right this instant! Listen to your sister!"

He does. He lets us go and I look around. We seem to be in his room. He continues to stare at us.

"That wasn't funny!" Cat pouts.

"Cat… we should leave…" I whisper to her, seeing the look on his face.

"Y-yeah." Cat and I take a step back. He takes a step towards us. "Don't. I'll tell mom and dad." Cat warns. He takes another step forward.

And then like before he bounds forward and this time grabs us by our conjoined arms and yanks us towards him.

This is it.

This is how I lose my ears.

I always knew this would happen.

Wait, _no I didn_'_t_!

In a last desperate attempt, Cat and I both let out a shriek before we're dipped down… And our hand sink into a thick, gooey concoction in a bucket. I catch a whiff of it. It smells awful, it's a weird deep-amber colour, and it feels greasy and disgusting.

"Ewie! What is this?!" Cat gasps. We try to pull away but he holds us in there.

"Cat. Control. Your crazy. Brother!" I pant.

"I wish I could!" Cat cries. Finally he releases us and we pull our hands from the… whatever it is. Cat's brother steps back with a grin on his face as our hands and half our arms drip with the stuff. "Gross! What'd you just get all over us?!"

"You don't want to know." He glowers, his face growing dark. I feel my hand slip a little bit. Wait, my hand slipped…?

"Why would you do-"

"Cat." I cut her off.

"What?" Cat asks, but my hand has already slipped fully from her grasp. Her eyes widen as I slowly lift my now-free hand in front of us. The first feeling of free movement in days. Cat does the same, wincing a bit as she flexes her hand. It starts to sink in to both of us as we stare at each other.

We're free.

We're really free.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Free at last! Thank Cori, they are free at last! Thanks to... Whatever Cat's brother did. Honestly that's based on some searching on the Googles to see weird home-made solvents for super glue... some of them were really random and gross... But hey! No surgery! Just really gross hands! Yaay! Also Cat's parents weren't as on board as Tori's parents, but hey, they were much better than they were in Falling Out (spoilers if you haven't read Falling Out yet?). **

**Sorry this is a day late by the way. My parents have been gone for the past few days so I had to take care of the house so they wouldn't come home to a disaster and think I failed as an adult. So yeah! It's up now! And only... one more left for this one. Yeah it's pretty short. But I hope it was also sweet! Short and sweet! Let me know!**

**Fun Fact: There's been a lot of memes in this story... more than I thought there would but, hey, memes happen. There's a reference to a pretty recent internet viral thing in this one. My Twitter followers know what I'm talking about... and THEY convinced me to keep it in! Blame them! (I love you, Tweeps)**


	8. The Real Detox

**Disclaimer: I am not Victorious because I do not own it. Victorious is not own because I do not it. It am not do own because Victorious is not I.**

* * *

Cat's brother's methods may be… questionable, but they're effective. The only downside is that our hands smelled pretty nasty for 24 hours, but hey, at least we could viciously scrub our hand in the shower on our own now. He still won't tell us what was in that goop, though…

The first thing we did after wiping off the gunk residue was run down to Cat's parents, excitedly jumping and screaming. Mrs. Valentine nearly fainted from happiness. She's the one who drove us back to my house that night, and she already seemed much more content with our relationship now that we weren't attached by glue. We still didn't kiss in the car like we did in front of my mom out of consideration for her.

The second thing we did was experience the bliss of… relieving ourselves without the presence of an audience. I'm never taking that chiz for granted ever again.

The third thing we did… was decide we would spend the next day apart. We had just spent almost every second of the last three days together. We figured it might be good for us to take a break, recharge, give us time to maybe miss each other, and then…

And then who knows? But I'm excited for whatever it is, as long as it's with Cat.

We only sent a few texts back and forth to check on the status of the stench of our hands, but that's about it. Now it's Monday morning and I'm at my locker, more than looking forward to seeing her again. It felt weird… I thought it'd be a relief to finally be my individual person, but it was definitely an adjustment. It took me at least ¾ of Sunday to get used to using my left hand actively again… and I did become accustomed to the ever-present warm person and personality nearby me. I miss her eyes. And her smile. And her voice. And her laugh…

Apparently she feels the same, because I'm knocked a bit off balance from that same warm body colliding with mine, her arms wrapping tightly around my waist.

"Cat!" I laugh, squeezing her back. Ahh, full hugs are best hugs. She eventually pulls away, a bright look on her face.

"So, still want to do the romantic thing with me?" Cat asks shyly.

"Hmm…" I tap my chin thoughtfully and Cat gives me a pout. I can't help but laugh and wipe that pout away with a kiss. "Yes, definitely." I murmur.

"Kay, kay. Me too." Cat sighs contentedly. I give her a grin, running my eyes along her beautiful and comforting features.

"Honestly, I'm very close to getting the Grizzly Glue out again…" I smirk. Cat giggles, slipping her hand into mine and squeezing tight.

"You won't need it." She assures me. Yep. Definitely still into the whole romantic thing with this girl.

"Well, well, well…" Jade saunters over, eyeing our hands. "Look who still has a bit of a sticky situation." She smirks. I guess she didn't see that we were detached.

"Look who still tries to milk pain out of others for her own pleasure." I smile sweetly at her. Jade clicks her tongue.

"Look who probably still has a little bit of a problem expressing how she really _feels_." Jade throws back, probably trying to make me feel flustered about my feeling for Cat. She has no idea.

"Look who still seems to be very invested for someone who apparently doesn't care." I scoff.

"Look who's heading straight for a train wreck!" Jade spits.

"Look who needs to go to her locker!" Cat exclaims quickly, cutting us off. She turns to me. "I'll see you in class, kay kay?"

"Kay." I smile, and she smiles back right before giving me a quick peck on the lips. Releasing my hand, she skips away like the adorable human being she is. I look at Jade, who seems to be agape. "Some train wreck, huh?" I raise my eyebrow with a smirk. She clamps her jaw shut, crossing her arms.

"I've seen better." She comments. "Guess that worked out for you."

"I'd say it more than worked out. Disappointed?" I question. She hesitates a moment before clicking her tongue again.

"One time I was driving to an audition and there was a huge traffic jam. Turned out, a train derailed along a crossing and made a huge mess of things, so traffic was at a standstill. I couldn't move the volume of cars was so jam packed." Jade recalls, a scowl on her face. "I missed the audition."

I eye her curiously. "Well, that sucks… I'm sorry about that. But… your point?" I inquire. She rolls her eyes.

"I'm saying sometimes it's best if the train wreck doesn't take place. _Especially_ if that train wreck impedes on my life." Jade states, sticking out her index finger at me threateningly. "Don't. Hurt her."

"I have no intention of causing a storm in her life, I promise." I sigh, and she raises her eyebrow.

"Good. Glad we have an agreement." Jade drawls, turning away.

"Hey, Jade." I stop her. She pauses a moment before slowly turning around, looking impatient. "You never really thought this would turn into a train wreck, did you?" I question. She looks me up and down before smirking.

"Look who seems to think highly of my opinion." She scoffs, leaving me with my thoughts.

…Oh yeah, she totally shipped me and Cat.

* * *

"Okay, you ready?"

Cat gives me a determined look, nodding. "Yes. Let me have it." She requests, brushing her hair to the side. I take a deep breath. I have to focus, too.

"Baby girl, you know I would _never_ let that happen."

"But-"

"No buts. I won't let it happen. I _promise_. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe from him and anyone else who may harm you. You're the most important person in the world to me. I won't let you go without a fight."

I wait for Cat to say her next line, but instead her features soften considerably, a touched and embarrassed smile appearing on her face as her eyelids flicker…

"Cat!" I huff, and she jumps.

"Sorry! Did I do it again?" Cat pouts.

"Only a lot." I put my hands on my hips. "You went forever hiding your feelings. Why can't you turn that back on just for this play?"

"That's the thing! I was hiding them for so long that now they're out in the open, I can't stop letting them show." Cat shifts guiltily.

"So it's like the dam broke." I sigh, and she nods slowly. I put my arm around her, kissing her on the cheek. "Don't worry about it. I'll ask the director to recast me."

"What? But… no, you don't have to!" Cat frowns.

"Remember what Sikowitz said? We have to put aside our personal lives to get our work done properly, and I don't think _either_ of us are good at that yet." I chuckle. "It's not a problem."

"…Kay, kay. If you're sure." Cat sighs.

"As sure as I am that you're the cutest person who ever lived." I coo. She blushes and hugs me, and I swear I heard a gagging sound far down the hallway. Sounded like Jade. "C'mon. Let's head to rehearsal." I state.

We make it into that same classroom, and the director spreads his arms wide when he sees us.

"Ah! Cat, Tori! Just who I wanted to see!" He exclaims. Cat and I glance at each other with confusion.

"Us specifically, sir?" Cat asks.

"Of course." He smiles, bouncing excitedly over to us. "Oh. Nice to see you're not glued to each other anymore. That'll make blocking easier. Anyway! I have great news! You're both being recast!"

I let out a sigh. Guess I didn't have to request it, after all. "I totally understand, sir." I nod. He blinks at me.

"Oh, so you felt the same spark I did?" He asks. Cat tilts her head.

"Spark?" She asks.

"Yes! That spark of inspiration! The kind that keeps you up at night and consumes your very being." He gushes, shaking from excitement. Cat and I take a slow step backwards.

"Uhh…" I eye him cautiously. He's suddenly acting as eccentric as Sikowitz.

"Thanks to you two and your performance on Friday, I decided to do something that's never been done before at Hollywood Arts." He states, before spreading his hands in the air as if to reveal the words. "Queer theatre!"

"What theatre?" Cat blinks.

"Queer theatre! Performance representing the LGBTQ community! I spent the weekend rewriting the script to put my own queer twist on it…" He trails off, before pointing at us. "You two are now lesbian lovers, with Cat's character still dealing with her mob father and Tori's character as her girlfriend."

"Oh, wow." I gape. "That… solves our issue."

"Are you up for the challenge?" He smiles.

"It shouldn't be a problem." Cat beams. The director eyes her.

"Oh right, and Cat, your character will survive this time." He reveals. Cat gasps.

"Really? Why?" Cat questions, her hand over her mouth.

"I suppose you aren't as expendable as I thought." He shrugs. Cat smiles with a blush, and I chuckle while giving her a hug from the side, kissing her temple. "Ahh, already practicing I see. Great! Let's start a read-through of the new script, everyone."

"That worked out." I whisper in Cat's ear.

"You won't let my dad's mob friends kidnap me, will you?" Cat giggles.

"I won't let you go without a fight." I coo.

We read through the script, and it's actually really good. I'm impressed. This could be big for Hollywood Arts… and I'm glad Cat and I are a part of it. Everyone else seemed excited, too. And the best part is that I already have existing feelings to fuel my performance on stage…

"That was fun!" Cat beams, skipping beside me after the rehearsal.

"You were great." I chuckle. She looks at me, grinning.

"I had a great scene partner." Cat states, hugging my arm.

"Glad you think so. Hopefully I'm a good work partner, too, since we have to finish up our history presentation today." I mutter.

"It'll go fine. We're still a great team." She winks at me. Swoon.

We're about to split off to our lockers when Jade comes storming towards us.

"You." She growls. "How did you get the glue off?"

"What? Why the sudden interest?" I question.

"Just. Tell me." Jade glowers. Cat shrinks back a bit under Jade's gaze.

"We don't really know." Cat admits in a small voice.

"You better find out." Jade hisses.

"Jade, stop being a gank and tell us what's wrong." I roll my eyes. She glares at me.

"Beck!" She calls out, not looking away from me. Beck slowly comes up from behind her, looking sullen. And shirtless.

"What's the matter? You don't look glued together." Cat observes.

"Of course not. I wouldn't be so _stupid_." Jade spits, turning her glare to Beck. Beck rolls his eyes, sighing.

"It wasn't my fault." He grumbles.

"I don't care. I just need it _fixed_." Jade snaps.

"Beck, what'd you do?" I question. Beck lets out a groan.

"Well, I was working on a car and…" He explains, slowly turning around. Both Cat and I gasp.

Back to back, being held up off the ground by Beck's shoulder blades, is Sinjin. Also shirtless.

"Hi guys!" Sinjin waves.

"S-Sinjin? You glued Sinjin to your back?!" I gape.

"How did that happen?" Cat gasps.

"Don't ask." Beck shakes his head, calling over his shoulder. He shakes his shoulders a bit, causing Sinjin to bob up and down. "Good news is that I'll be getting a lot of upper back strength."

"Are you calling me fat?" Sinjin scoffs.

"No, man… muscle weighs more than fat, you know." Beck states. Sinjin seems to blush.

"Aww, Beck…" Sinjin gushes. Jade quickly looks from Cat holding onto my arm to Sinjin and Beck's predicament.

"Stop growing closer!" Jade barks at them before looking at us. "_Fix this_!"

"Okay, Jade." I chuckle, trying to hold back my laughter.

"It's _not funny_." Jade scoffs. "I'm not dating anyone attached to _that_."

I give Cat a look, and she gives a nod. "I'll call my brother…"

* * *

Cat and I still haven't been on an official date. Midterms took up too much of our time, so our time together comprised of studying. But it's Friday now, meaning midterm week is over. Meaning… I can finally take her out on a date.

Oh, and if you're wondering, yes we got Beck and Sinjin unstuck. And Cat's brother was right – we didn't want to know what was in that home-made solvent. But Jade seemed to love it, if that gives you any idea.

I walk up to Cat's door in Venice, suddenly so nervous. You'd think I'd be so used to her now I wouldn't be nervous… but I am. It's a good nervous, though. Like when I go out on stage to sing.

I try to stop my hand from shaking, but it just won't… Guess I'll just have to deal with it. It makes knocking on the door sound more rapid anyway.

Sam opens the door, leaning against the doorframe.

"Can I help you?" Sam drawls. I raise my eyebrow.

"Uh, hi Sam… Is Cat in?" I ask.

"Cat? We don't own a cat." Sam scoffs. I narrow my eyes, trying to figure out her game. Sam's not stupid.

"You know who I mean." I sigh. She shrugs.

"Nope, I don't. You probably have the wrong unit. Why don't you try one across town?" Sam suggests. I blink at her.

"What?" I gawk just as she starts to shut the door.

"Sam! Is that Tori?" Cat's voice calls from inside. Sam has a very unimpressed look on her face. What's her deal?

"It might be." Sam grunts.

"Let her in." Cat orders.

"No." Sam declares.

"**Sam Puckle**." Cat snaps.

"Puckett!" Sam growls.

"Let Tori in and I _might_ get it right one day!" Cat lectures.

"Uuuuuuuulllllghhhhhh." Sam groans in an over-exaggerated tone, but she opens the door for me.

"Thank… you?" I question, walking in slowly. I see Cat enter from the back hallway, still putting an earring in. She looks gorgeous… a fancy blue blouse and a black skirt with classy pumps… I can't help the goofy grin on my face.

"Hi, hun." Cat grins, coming up to me and placing a long kiss on my lips.

"**Uuuuuuuuulllllghhhhhhh**." Sam groans even louder. Cat breaks away from me far too soon to glare at Sam.

"Sorry for my roommate." Cat huffs. I squeeze Cat close.

"What's with her? I thought she was okay with our relationship." I ask with concern. I'd hate to think Sam's actually been giving Cat grief over her sexuality all week. She already told me communication with her mother is still a bit awkward and strained. I know that'll get better over time, though. Her mom's trying.

"I am. Just not when your relationship _directly affects me_." Sam snarls. Cat rolls her eyes, patting me on the shoulder.

"Sam's just a little upset that I'm going out with you and leaving her with all the babysitting tonight." Cat explains.

"Yeah, and now I have to deal with the brats all on my own." Sam grumbles.

"I told you, you get to keep all the money from tonight's job." Cat huffs.

"Not worth it." Sam glares.

"_And_ I'll make you extra meatballs." Cat offers. A grin appears on Sam's face.

"Oh. That's all I wanted." Sam stretches, flopping on the couch. "You two have fun."

"Yeah, yeah." Cat mumbles, taking my hand. She shakes off her altercation with Sam and smiles at me. "You look really nice."

"Thanks, Cat. You knock the wind out of me." I sigh, leading her out of the apartment. She gives me a concerned look.

"What? Is that bad?" Cat questions. Aww.

"In this case it's good, Cat. Really good." I chuckle.

"Oh. Yay!" Cat coos, leaning close. "So where are we going?"

"Back to school." I say with a smile. She furrows her brow.

"But school's over for the week." Cat notes. "Why would we go there?"

"You'll see." I murmur, and she tilts her head.

"Alright… I know the bus stop we need to go to." Cat states.

"I mean… we could take a bus… or…" I trail off, pulling out a piece of paper. "I could drive us."

Her eyes lighten up.

"Tori! You got your license?" Cat exclaims, batting me lightly on the arm.

"Uh huh. Went right after school." I wink. She jumps on me with a hug.

"I'm so proud of you!" Cat squeezes me tight, making me knees go weak.

"One less thing Jade can insult me about." I sigh, burying my face into her hair. "And I can drive my girlfriend wherever we want to go."

Cat steps back, blushing. "Girlfriend?" Cat smiles, looking shy. This is the first time one of us has said it out loud to each other.

"Of course." I take her arm. She flushes even more, giggling into my shoulder.

"I like that…" Cat sighs before looking up to me. "But why do we want to go to the school on a Friday night?"

"I told you, you'll see." I tap her nose.

"Fiiine." Cat mumbles, following me to my car. I'm still pretty new at the whole driving thing, so I'm careful… Don't want to crash on a first date. Or… any date.

We make it to Hollywood Arts, and Cat keeps trying to guess why we're there.

"Are we going to do homework?"

"No."

"Are we going to find Sikowitz's stash of coconuts?"

"No."

"Are we going to stock the vending machines with more candy?"

"No."

"Tell me!" Cat whines.

"Okay." I chuckle. "You like pretty colours, right?"

"Right…" Cat nods. At this point we walk into the blackbox, where I had hung up the clouds, moon and sun Cat and I had worked on over the stage. The lights in the blackbox were shining everywhere, lighting up the area like a rainbow. In the middle of the stage is the couch being used as a set piece in the play, the same one we sit on during that power-outage scene. "Oh my gosh."

"This is why we're at school on a Friday night." I smile. She walks out onto the stage, spinning around in the lights.

"How'd you set this up?" Cat asks.

"Sinjin kind of owed us for getting him unstuck so that Jade didn't rip them apart herself. I got him to pull a few strings." I wink. She stops spinning, coming over to me.

"I love it." She grins, pulling me in for a kiss. We start slow, as always. Experiencing each other, savouring each other. But it doesn't take long for our hands to wander, both of them being free now. We pull each other closer, kiss deepening. She sighs a bit and without really thinking about it, I dart my tongue along her lip. She gasps, meeting my tongue with hers… and everything feels perfect.

We somehow waddle our way to the couch, collapsing against it while we nip, bite and taste. Her lips are heavenly, and my tongue leaves her mouth so I can take her bottom lip between my teeth and suck gently… and I hear her moan, and everything sounds perfect.

I release her lip, dragging my mouth along her jaw, leaving tiny kisses until I reach her neck. I leave slightly firm kisses – just enough pressure to make her shiver. I breathe in the scent of her neck, and her hair. She still smells so sweet as always… and everything smells perfect.

I lean down over her a little bit, pushing her into the couch as I feel her hands tip my head up back to her. She slips her tongue back into my mouth immediately, and now I moan. I explore her mouth. I'm almost shocked her teeth look so white and don't have any cavities, because she tastes as sweet as she smells. She's like candy… and everything tastes perfect.

I push her down more, really reveling in the fact that I'm having this moment with her. I'm making out with Cat. My girlfriend… my girlfriend! I feel like someone should pinch me, but I don't want to wake up in case it's a dream. I didn't expect to make out with Cat so soon on the date… I kind of figured that was a later in the date kind of thing. But I guess we're both deprived.

I'm almost on top of her kissing her when I feel her hands on my shoulders, putting a little bit of resistance.

"Tori…?" Cat muffles out against my mouth. I pull away, giving her a doting look.

"Yeah?" I ask. She looks nervous. She takes a deep breath, and doesn't meet my eyes.

"I… I don't want to go too far. Not yet." Cat mumbles. I smile and lean off her, sitting up.

"That's fine. I didn't want to go far either." I assure her. I mean, yes, I perv over her a bit… but that doesn't mean I want to jump her bones. That stuff makes me nervous, especially with Cat… She seems so innocent, I'm not even sure if she fully grasps the concept yet.

"Really?" Cat questions, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Uh huh. Besides, our food will get cold if we keep going on like this." I state. She smiles in relief a moment before giving me a questioning look.

"Food? What food?" Cat tilts her head. I reach over the couch, grabbing the Nozu's take-out I instructed Sinjin to leave there. Thank god he remembered.

"This food." I show her, and her eyes light up.

"Tori… this was a great idea." Cat coos.

"Well I thought hard about how I wanted our first date to be… What I wanted to do with you…" I explain. "We've been friends for so long, we've done things like go to the beach and movie theatres and restaurants and sing karaoke…"

"But I love doing any of those things with you. No matter how many times." Cat murmurs, and I smile with a blush.

"Heh… me too. But this is our first date and I wanted it to be special. Something I really wanted to do with you. Something movie theatres and busy restaurants can't give us." I mumble, fiddling with my hands.

"And what's that?" Cat inquires.

"I just want to talk to you." I sigh. "When we first got glued, that's all I wanted to do. Talk, find out more about what you think about. How you think. How you feel. Have deep conversation."

"People don't usually bother trying to have deep conversations with me." Cat mutters, and I cup her cheek.

"I think you can handle it." I beam. "Hey, the first date is about getting to know each other, right?"

"Right." Cat giggles, biting her lip. "But I don't have to get to know how I fell for you so hard. That part is obvious. But the rest, yes. So much yes." Cat brushes her hair to the side, turning her head slightly so she can look at me out of the corner of her eye, a cute and crooked smile gracing her face.

And everything looks perfect.

We ate our food and talked and laughed as Cat told me stories of her brother and I told her stories of Trina she had never heard. At some point we thought about setting them up on a date until we remembered Cat's brother has a tendency to bite ears off, and Trina wouldn't be able to handle that lack of symmetry.

We talked about her love of science and how it always interested her how things worked, and how she was always searching for reasons for why things happen. But she said theatre is her first love, and science is just her hobby. I talked about how before Hollywood Arts, I thought about one day being a cop like my dad. Cat didn't like that. She said she'd be too scared for me every day and she'd _definitely_ Grizzly Glue me to her just to make sure I didn't get hurt. I thought that was cute, and assured her singing was my only path now.

We talked about all the times she stole glances at me and when she felt like she hugged me for a little longer than she should've when she secretly never wanted to let me go. She told me all about the journey her feelings for me took her on. Now that she's told me, I look back and it makes sense. I wish I had seen it before. But I see it now… and that's what matters.

"Know what?" I sigh, squeezing her tight against me. We've long finished out food, and now we're just lounging on the couch with her snuggled into my arms as we continue our conversation. You have no idea how good it feels to hold her after I had waited so long when I only had one arm free. It's like she fits perfectly, like my arms were made to wrap around her. It sends warm, relaxing waves across my body. That oxytocin.

"Mm… what?" Cat murmurs.

"I think I might've had feelings for you longer than I thought, too." I recall. Cat nuzzles her head into my shoulder.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah… I just didn't recognize it because I wasn't… I wasn't letting myself be on the same wave length as you." I try to word it, although it doesn't make too much sense coming out of my mouth.

"What do you mean?" Cat inquires, and I sigh.

"I mean…" I pause for a moment, trying to think. "Remember when I wanted you to give me space?"

"Unfortunately." Cat smirks.

"Hey, I told you I was sorry." I chuckle. "Anyway. I thought of it as… a detox. I thought maybe if I stayed away from you, I could handle you better. But… After being stuck with you… after feeling so much happier… I realized I was detoxing the wrong thing."

"What am I, bibble?" Cat questions.

"No, of course not." I laugh. "I just wanted a temporary detox, unlike you who needs to stay off bibble forever."

"Aww, I wish I were bibble." Cat mumbles, and I shake my head with a smile.

"Anyway, what I should've been detoxing the whole time is my attitude about life. The one that always wanted to be perfect. The one that made me date a bunch of guys that weren't right for me just because they seemed perfect at what they did. And the need to blend in… To avoid judgement…" I rest my chin on her head. "That was the real toxic."

"And now you're a cloud." Cat coos.

"Now I'm a cloud." I repeat. "And now I've found what real perfection is… having flaws and accepting and loving that no matter what other people think. And it's thanks to you. You helped me detox from that old mindset."

"I'm so happy we get to float along together, now." Cat sighs. "Don't float away."

"I won't." I chuckle. Cat sits up on my lap, twirling a piece of my hair in her fingers.

"How do you know?" She asks, leaning close.

"Remember when you said we don't need the Grizzly Glue anymore?" I ask, taking her hand in mine. She smiles, squeezing my hand tight.

"Mhm."

"Well you were right… that's why." I promise her. She smiles, pressing her lips to the back of my hand as she whispers exactly how I feel into my skin.

"We're inseparable now."

* * *

**Author's Notes: Ayyy it's done woohoo. They don't need glue anymore to stick together. Good times all around. Good Cori all around. As you know this was a bit of a departure for me... You know... the light and fluffy stuff. I think it turned out alright! Even though sometimes I wanted to cause mayhem to make some angst... I'm so glad I'm not a god or a ruler or something. I'd be horrible to my people.**

**Let me know how you feel about it. I'm honestly curious since, as I said, it's a bit different. Next story will be angsty as fuck so enjoy this while you can. Drop me a line. Follow my twitter to see news on the next story and to see me freak out about Ariana Grande (dat Break Free music video doh. Missile boobs). And seriously thank you to all who read and reviewed! I'm seriously blown away by the response you guys give me every time. Smiley face. **

**Fun Fact: Beck and Sinjin got stuck because Sinjin heard from Robbie that Beck would help make him cool if he helped with his car. Sinjin has ****sensitive skin but he figured he should be shirtless like Beck, and grabbed what he thought was sunscreen near Beck. It was actually Grizzly Glue Beck used to mend a car part. The problem was, the car sprung a bit of a leak... and Sinjin slipped on that leak... causing him to squeeze out Grizzly Glue onto Beck's back and stumble into it. And the rest is history. If this was a Victorious episode, I'd consider that the "B Plot".**


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